Miraculous One Shots
by DJMirnum
Summary: Just a series of one shots that I thought would be fun. They will range from Fluffy to Angst. No prompts, just whatever pops into my head. Enjoy! Hacked - Ladybug fights the notorious hacker Hawkmoth but thanks to her friends, she manages to save her own computer
1. Bubble Gum

In the courtyard, a crowd of students had gathered around the school's resident rivals; Alix and Kim. Kim had challenged Alix to a blowing bubble gum challenge. Whoever blows the biggest bubble, judged by Max, wins and the loser has to do whatever the winner wants for a week. Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien were among the crowd watching.

"Hey Mari, when was the last time we did this," asked Alya.

"Two years ago; one of the reasons for my short hair," answered Marinette.

"What happened," asked Adrien.

"Mari's bubble was so big it popped all over her face and her hair. It used to be in longer pigtails," answered Nino. "We tried to get as much of the gum out of her hair but Mari's mom had to cut it."

"So you've never let grow out since then," asked Adrien to Marinette.

"More or less," she shrugged.

"I think you look great with longer hair," he commented.

Marinette blushed while Nino and Alya snickered. The contest began with Alix and Kim constantly chewing and blowing bubbles. Kim got close but it popped prematurely. Alix got a good rhythm and her bubble was pretty impressive. Kim had one shot to beat her bubble; so he blew and blew and blew. It got bigger and bigger and Alix was getting worried. Max took his measurements and did the calculations and the results; Kim's bubble was .02328 inches bigger than Alix's. Kim pumped his fists in victory and began to gloat.

"That's it? I was expecting more out of that," said one student.

"Hey! Marinette! Didn't you used to hold the record," asked another.

"That was long ago," she shrugged off.

"I'd like to see you beat Kim," said Alya.

"No, I got my win against Alix. Someone else go," said Kim.

A moment of silence came over the crowd till, a certain blond boy spoke up.

"I'll give it a shot; might be fun," said Adrien.

"You sure about that," said Marinette raising an eyebrow.

"Absolutely," he smirked.

"What are the stakes," she asked.

"Same for Alix and Kim; loser does whatever the winner wants for a week. Scared, Princess?"

"Not a bit, kitty."

"I swear, the nicknames you two use," sighed Alya. "Ok, anyone got some gum?"

"No need; I got some," said Marinette pulling out some bubble gum. She gave a piece to Adrien.

"Alright, I will be judging the size of the bubble to determine the winner. Contestants, start chewing," cried Max.

Marinette and Adrien popped the gum into their mouths and began to chew. The key to a good bubble was how much chewing of the gum takes as well as how flat the gum is and to make sure it's not too thin once you push your tongue through. Marinette was the first to start blowing; a few good sized ones but not nearly big enough for her. Adrien tried to follow suit; he was new to it since he was never allowed to chew bubble gum. Nino gave him a piece once and showed him to blow a bubble and he was hooked. He kept a stash of gum in his room so Nathalie wouldn't find out. His bubbles were fairly decent but not good enough. Marinette blew one really big bubble; almost as big as her head. Max managed to measure it and they all waited for Adrien to get his best bubble blown. He began to blow; it was getting bigger. He was getting confident that his would be the biggest one. Just as Max was about to measure it, Adrien got greedy and blew one more time and then, pop. The gum went all over his face, but thankfully not in his hair.

"Unable to measure bubble due to premature popping. Adrien loses by default," stated Max.

"What?! How is that a rule," yelled Adrien as he freed himself from the gum.

"It's always been a rule; you blow and it pops during initial judging, you automatically lose," said Nino.

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"Ignorance is no excuse," stated Alya. "You gotta do whatever Marinette says now for a week."

The other students left leaving Marinette and Adrien alone.

"Well, Princess I am at your service then," he says with a bow.

Marinette giggled.

"Well, as my first order; you owe me more gum. Those were my last two pieces."

"I have some back in my room I can share with you."

"Good, because having you take me to your place was another thing," she smirked.

"Oh? And just what did you have in mind, my Lady?"

She kissed him and said, "you'll just have to find out."

She winked and walked to class with Adrien following behind her in a daze.

 **Hope you enjoyed this little snippet. I thought it would be fun to have a bubble gum blowing challenge.**


	2. These Hips Don't Lie

The teacher walked into class and got straight to the point.

"Good Morning everyone! Group Project Time!" There were some collective groans from the students. "You will be in groups of three and will cover a specific country or region of the world. I have the groups already decided. Chloe, Sabrina and Nathaniel. Ivan, Kim and Mylene. Max, Nino and Adrien. Juleka, Alix and Dumont. Finally, Rose, Alya and Marinette. I have put together packets of what is expected of the project and the location of said region you will be assigned to. Please get with your group and and select one person to take it. Do not break the seal to see which region you have until they are all passed out."

After everyone got in their group and received their packets, they were allowed to open it. The project required a five page essay of the country or region with specific topics that had to be covered. From the history, the culture, the social structure and others. There was a chance for extra credit if the group did a visual presentation of something unique to their country. Marinette's group received Columbia.

"Hey! How about for our visual presentation we do a dance," cried Rose.

"Oh, I like the sound of that," said Alya.

"Oh, I don't know. I have no rhythm," said a worried Marinette.

"Girl, this could be your big chance at getting Adrien to notice you. Seeing you shake your hips and he'll be hooked," smirked Alya.

"You think so?"

"It's worth a shot right," cried Rose.

They had two weeks to complete the project and Marinette volunteered making a traditional dance outfit, one that was modest enough for dress code and kept in line with the dance. Alya would work on the choreography while Rose handled the music and introducing the dance. Writing the essay portion was the easy part; the rest of the two weeks was making the costumes and practicing the dance. Rose let herself be the one to do the presentation while Alya and Marinette did the dance. The girls were practicing in Marinette's room; Rose ironing out her speech while Alya and Mari practicing.

"Mari, you gotta swing your hips more," whined Alya.

"It's hard! I could never move my hips as good as those dancers!"

"Look, the teacher doesn't expect it to be perfect but we should at least show that we put in effort for it. Work on your hip movements Mari until we can practice again. I need to get home. How are the costumes coming," asked Alya.

"Almost done. Just need to put on a few finishing touches," said Mari.

"Great! I need to go, too. See you later Mari," said Rose.

After Alya and Rose left. Mari pulled up the video they were using to teach them the moves and practiced her hip movements; swaying side to side and circling. She was so lost in the moment she barely registered the tapping sound from her window. She opened it to see a certain black cat-boy crouched in front of her.

"Hey there," he beamed.

"Chat, what are you doing here," she sighed.

"Meouch, can a cat visit his favorite civilian?"

"Yes, but now is not a good time. I'm actually working on an assignment."

Marinette climbed back down and Chat followed her.

"Oh, purrhaps I can be of some assistance?"

"No, it's my part in a visual presentation. A group project about a certain country or area of the world."

That rang a bell for Chat. He'd actually just finished his group meeting as Adrien and they also had visual presentation planned as well. So, he was curious as to what Marinette's group planned to do.

"And the country would be?"

"Columbia. We're doing a dance."

"Can I see," he asked perking his ears up and tail twitching. He'd seen those dances on the Internet so seeing Marinette attempt at that type of dancing intrigued him.

"Well, I can't go over everything and it's hard for me to get into the rhythm."

"Can I still watch? I'll be quiet I promise!"

"Ugh, fine. Just don't touch anything and no talking. I need to concentrate."

Chat made himself comfortable on the chaise while Marinette turned on some music that helped get into the movements better. When the beat kicked in, her hips moved. Twirling with the skirt in her hands. Twisting and turning. Spinning and waving, swaying and sashaying. It was hypnotic for Chat. Seeing her move like that was amazing; he never thought sweet, shy Marinette could move her body that way. His eyes followed every movement of her hips, staring intently. His head eventually followed suit but he didn't notice. He dared to look up and saw her smirking at him; his cheeks turned pink but as soon as she winked at him, he turned bright red. The song ended and so did the dance. Chat was too stupefied to move.

"Hello? Kitty? You there?"

"Uh, what?"

"You alright chaton?"

"Yeah, just wow! That was great! You deserve an A for that!"

"Thanks, but we still have a lot to work on. Now I need to work on the dresses."

"Can I still watch? I love watching you work."

"Since you were good while I danced, yes you can," she smiled at him.

Marinette worked on the dresses she and Alya were going to wear for their dance. She was pretty excited about it. She finally finished but turned down Chat's plea to model it. She shooed him out in order for her to complete other work and to help in the bakery. Soon, the due day of the project came and only a few people were doing presentations; Marinette's group, Adrien's group and Ivan's group. Adrien, Nino and Max had Nigeria as their country; they performed a tribal drum sequence. Adrien loved playing the drums, the feeling of letting his hands be in control of the beats. The adrenaline rush was almost like that of being Chat Noir; course nothing compared to being Chat Noir but this was close. The group received their A and Ivan, Kim and Mylene stepped up. Their group had Japan and they brought sushi to share and explained the art of sushi making. They also received and A. Finally, it was Marinette, Alya and Rose's turn. Rose did a brief introduction while Marinette and Alya went to change. Rose discussed the dances of Columbia and how important they were to the culture. When the time came, she turned on the music and both Marinette and Alya walked in with flowers in their hair, wearing white dresses with red, blue and yellow stripes on the skirt. The skirts were flowy and swished and swayed at every movement. It made Adrien remember watching Marinette practice but seeing the actual dance and in the outfit, it was easy for his eyes to follow the movements of Mari's hips. He looked at her face and she smirked and winked at him; he instantly blushed. Nino was also having the same type of reaction to Alya, though instead of winking, she jerked her hips at little more than she should and Nino's jaw dropped. At the end of the dance, the two girls clapped their hands and in Spanish said, "la belleza esta en el baile!" The class applauded and they received an A. It was during lunchtime where Nino started to gush at Alya.

"Seriously, those moves were awesome!"

"Thanks, babe," smiled Alya. She then whispered in his ear and his cheeks turned bright red.

Marinette and Adrien snickered at the two of them.

"Congrats on your A, Marinette," he smiled.

"Thanks. I liked your presentation a lot," she beamed.

"Thanks, it was a lot of fun learning the music."

"Yeah, I enjoyed dancing today. Did you like it," she smiled.

He then remembered the movement of her hips and it made his cheeks go red.

"You-you danced pretty girl...pretty good," he corrected.

Marinette started to blush as well, but her confidence was fueled by Adrien's flustered speech. She then stood up to head for her next class.

"Well, I'm glad you did. And always remember, these hips don't lie."

She winked and sashayed away, putting a little extra swing in her hips. Needless to say, Adrien forgot how to function properly after that.

 **Didn't really have a dance in mind; just look up some videos and you might get an idea. Hope you guys liked this one.**


	3. Wipe Out

Marinette was mad at Alya and Nino; every chance they had at getting Marinette and Adrien together, they took it fiercely. Adrien had no idea, bless his heart, but Marinette knew hence why she and Adrien were waiting in line at the water park's biggest and twistiest, was that even a word; enclosed slide. Did she mention it was a tube ride for two-four people? Marinette thought all of them would ride together, but Alya and Nino claimed a two person tube and ran up the stairs to the top. Adrien had already grabbed one for them and got in line. It was fairly long, since it was the parks biggest attraction so Adrien tried to make small talk.

"So, when was the last time you've been here?"

"Uh, two summers ago with my parents. We can't always go on vacation because of the bakery but, we try to stick close to home. I don't remember this slide though. I guess they've built it since the last time I was here."

"Yeah, I heard it's a pretty wild ride from what people have been saying. I can't wait!"

Adrien had never had the opportunity to come to places like this so he was thrilled he was allowed to go. He'd always modeled swimwear but never got to actually swim, so armed with the latest swim shorts from his dad's line, black shorts that stopped at his mid thigh with a white racing stripe down the sides and the Agreste logo on the front and back left leg, he was looking pretty dang good. And Marinette had a hard time keeping it together. Especially staring at his toned chest and abs. When did he get those? He's ripped! She knew he wasn't lifting any weights, at least she thought she knew; he could have been lifting at home. She felt self-conscious enough already in her pink polka dotted bikini, she felt she didn't belong standing next to him with his perfect body. Adrien immediately noticed how she looked when she first stepped out of the changing rooms. He thought she looked cute in her two piece and her hair was still in pigtails so she looked doubly cute. But what really stood out to him was her toned body. Look at those guns! And a six pack? What has she been doing to get her body like that and why was she hiding it? She looked amazing! Not that he had the guts to tell her but he couldn't help looking at her in line since there wasn't much else to look at. Especially when she's in front of him and a step above so he had a pretty good view of her butt. And a cute one at that. It was finally their turn and Adrien placed the tube in the small pool before the mouth of the slide. The person who weighed the most sat in the back so Adrien took that spot and helped Marinette to the front. She had to scoot as far back as she could which was right up to Adrien's chest. She tried to suppress a squeak when her back made contact and she turned bright red.

"Hey, Mari maybe after this, you should put more sunscreen on. Hate to see you get sunburned."

"Yeah, sure," she replied shakily.

She gripped the handles on her side to keep herself grounded. When the life guard signaled for them to go, Adrien pushed them off and into the dark tunnel. They screamed in delight but then a sharp turn caused them scream more and then, the tunnel exploded into colored lights. Blinking and flashing every color of the rainbow as they felt each twist and turn of the slide. Occasionally, the tunnel went dark only to exploded back into colored lights again. It was a blast, till they felt sudden drops in the slide. They were small dips but they were so sudden, they yelped at each one.

"Hang on," yelled Adrien as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I am," she yelled as she gripped the handles harder; she barely noticed his arms.

After a few more twists and turns and dips, they began to notice the light at the end of the tunnel and braced for the big splash. What they didn't count on was the deluge of water that hit them coming from the opening of the slide leading to the pool at the bottom. The extra water weight combined with theirs made their raft sink once they hit end. They jumped up and gasped and sputtered out water. Adrien grabbed the raft and Marinette's hand and quickly got out of the small pool. Once they were out and got their bearings, they laughed.

"Wow, that was awesome," yelled Adrien.

"Yeah! That was fun," cried Marinette.

"Now we know why it's called 'Wipe Out'."

"It makes sense. You want to ride again?"

"Only if your up for it."

Marinette grabbed their raft and lifted it over her head.

"Let's go," she cried heading for the stairs.

Adrien quickly followed admiring the view in front of him.

 **For funsies, listen to the cover of the song "Wipe Out" from the movie Surf's Up at the part they enter the slide. The length of the ride is the length of the song. It'll make it more fun.**


	4. The Chat with the Hat

**Listen to the song "Marital Sabotage" by Hans Zimmer from the movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. That was the inspiration behind this**.

It was late at night and a young girl was running through the streets of Paris. Running at top speeds, hoping to evade her pursuers. It was supposed to be a simple job; a snatch and grab but she was careless and was caught. She had the deed to her parents bakery hidden in her dress. She couldn't let them take her parents business; so she snuck into the office of the man she knew who had it, Papillon. This mysterious man was buying up businesses in Paris for unknown reasons. Some refused to sell only to suddenly end up doing so. He was up to something, but all Marinette wanted to do was save her family's livelihood. She'd figure out a way to save everyone else another time. Right now, Papillon's goons were on her tail, possibly to retrieve the deed and perhaps her to have their fun with her. She ducked down an alley and found a hiding spot. She steadied her breathing and stayed as still as possible. The group of men found their way down the alley, looking for her.

"Spread out! She can't have gone too far," bellowed a big goon.

They began to search around, knocking bins and boxes over. They were getting too close to her spot; she swore one of them saw her. He seemed to be looking at her, but he turned away and it seemed that they were leaving. It got quiet; no sounds were heard in the alley. She carefully and quietly peeked from her hiding spot, the alley was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief and climbed out of her spot. She took one last look around and was about to leave when several hands grabbed her. She struggled, thrashed and kicked but she was out numbered and out classed in strength. Her arms pinned back by two men and she felt something sticking in her back; it was sharp and pointy. She heard a chuckle coming from the big goon walking toward her with a leer in his eyes. It creeped her out to no end.

"Thought you could get away, huh chérie? Now, where did you put that document?" Marinette growled as he got closer. "I could search you, and I won't be gentle."

The other men laughed as the big goon placed his hands at her waist and squeezed. She noticed the butterfly tattoo on his neck as she tried to suppress the cries she felt down in her throat. She let out a yelp of pain and soon a new voice spoke up.

"Gentlemen! That is no way to treat a Lady!"

They all turned to see a dark figure making his way to them. He wore a black suit with a golden bell on his collar. He stepped forward in black boots and carrying a silver staff in his gloved hands. On his head, covering what appeared to be blond hair was a black top hat with cat ears. What really stood out was his goggles with green lenses and his pearly white teeth. The big goon stood up straighter and sneered at the man.

"Stay out of this! It's none of your concern!"

"See, that's where you are wrong. Seeing you ruffians touch a lady like that makes it my concern. Now, please release the lady and you and your butterfly comrades won't be hurt."

"Heh, so the cat wishes to tangle with Papillon? Boys, take him down."

She saw the man smirk as the other goons made their way to him, even the ones holding her released her to get in on the action. What she saw next was a blur of punches, kicks and jabs of a staff. She saw one man pull a pistol and aimed it at the black cat dressed man.

"Look out," she cried.

He just barely dogged the bullet but it sent a ringing in his ears. He kept fighting and the ringing subsided as he dispatched the rest of the goons. He twirled his staff in a very showman like manner and placed it firmly under his arm and then removed his goggles. He turned and addressed Marinette; she saw that he had real green eyes, not colored from his goggles.

"Thank you for that warning, my Lady. Now, if you would just follow me please," he said turning around to head out of the alley.

"And why would I do that," she asked in an annoyed tone.

"I think the fact that I just saved your life justifies that," he said turning back to her.

"But I don't know you."

"Ah, you are right. Where are my manners? I am Chat Noir," he bowed. "At your service my Lady."

"Why are you calling me Lady?"

"Your dress, it's red with black spots. Like a ladybug." The two stared at each other in silence. "I know you took it."

"Took what?"

"The deed to that bakery. I know you have it."

"And your point," she said suspiciously.

"Quite mistrusting, my Lady," he smirked but then grew serious. "If you want to take down Papillon then you need my help."

"I don't need help."

"That was not clearly the case moments ago wasn't it?"

She knew he had a point, but she was sure she could have gotten out of it.

"Fine, we can be partners in this."

"That's just fine with me, Ladybug."

"What?"

"That's your code name; Papillon can't know who's really standing up to him. But if you prefer a different name."

"It's fine, I'll be Ladybug."

"Good, now come along; the police will be here soon and we need to tell the others."

"Others?"

"Oh my Lady, I have so much to show you," he said with a smile.


	5. Feed Me

One of Adrien's biggest complaints of his life; other than being ignored by his father, is his diet. It totally bites; Nathalie and his nutritionist keep him on a very strict diet to keep his model physique which meant no sugar, no fats, low-carb, lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts; anything healthy sounding. While he knew it was important to eat healthy, it's just his portions were always something to be desired. It was barely enough to keep his hunger satisfied and on occasion, his stomach would protest very loudly in public. Marinette knew his diet wasn't the best it could be so she decided to bring extra food for him at lunch or have him over to eat with her and her family. If he couldn't, she'd send him off with a bag of food for him to eat later. Adrien loved her cooking; he didn't know what she put in it but every time he ate something she made, he thought it was the best thing he ever had. While Marinette would roll her eyes, she blushed and beamed with pride. For a while, it was a simple arrangement; Adrien would be hungry even after he ate the lunch his at home cook made, Marinette would swoop in and offer him some of what she brought from home and he would be happy and content. Then, he got an idea; thank you romance movies. He always felt like the food was the best if Marinette made it, so how would it taste if she fed it to him? It sounded cliché and cheesy and silly; but he couldn't help it, he had to try it. So one day at lunch, Marinette sat beside him with her lunch in tow and pulled out two containers of food; one for her and one for Adrien. Marinette was eating some chicken fried rice while Adrien got leftover spaghetti. He liked spaghetti, but he loved fried rice and he wanted a bite. So, he turned to Marinette and got her attention.

"Hey, Mari. Can I try some of that fried rice?"

"Sure," she said offering her dish. She got a quizzical look on her face at Adrien's red face. "What is it?"

"Can-can you; feed it to me?"

Adrien wanted to die; dig a hole and put him in it. How awkward was this?! Would she think he was a weirdo?! Would she stop bringing him food?! He couldn't bear to no longer having dishes made by Marinette to never enter his mouth. He looked at her with a sheepish look while she blushed but still smiled. She took her spoon and scooped some of the rice; she raised the spoon up to Adrien's ever expecting mouth. Like a baby bird, she thought. She placed the spoon in his mouth and he closed it and Marinette took the spoon away.

"You like it," she asked.

Adrien's heart went a million miles per second. Yes, the rice was good; it was amazing and wonderful, and it was fed to him by her. He was definitely wanting to do it again.

"Could I have another bite?"

Marinette obliged once more and it was just as good as the last one if not better. From then on, Adrien would request a bite from whatever dish she was eating; regardless of if it was the same thing. He didn't care, it just made it more delicious to him. While cute at first, it did get a bit annoying for Nino and Alya. One time, Marinette brought cookies with her from the bakery, but these were a bit different.

"Does anyone want some cookies," Marinette asked.

"Do ya even have to ask," said Nino.

Marinette opened the bag and pulled out a smaller version of their regular chocolate chip cookies.

"My parents are trying out mini cookies," she explained.

"Sweet! I can eat as many of these little ones and not feel guilty for it," beamed Alya.

"Look how small they are," smiled Adrien.

"Ok, open up Adrien," said Marinette as she placed a little cookie into his mouth.

"These are so good," he sighed happily.

"I'm glad you like them. How about another," she smiled.

"Yes, please," he said in a dreamy tone.

Marinette placed another cookie in his mouth.

"Oh stop being so gross," gagged Nino.

"Seriously, I think the boy can eat his own cookie," admonished Alya.

"Of course I can; it just tastes better when Mari feeds it to me," he smiled waiting for another.

"Ok, one more time and then you eat your own."

Marinette fed him one more cookie then he ate on his own while Nino and Alya helped themselves. At the end of the day, Nino questioned Adrien's new lunch habit.

"Ok bro, what's with you wanting to be fed by Marinette?"

"I just wanted to try it. It seems more intimate and I like it."

"I know Marinette's your girlfriend and all but seriously, save the kinky stuff for private."

"NINO," Adrien yelled red in the face.

 **Does this warrant a sequel? Bear in mind, I don't write sin; PG-13 is as far as I go.**


	6. Not a Problem

Adrien had finally had enough; he's been the face of his father's empire and done all the things a good son should do. All those lessons he was forced to do, granted some of them actually helped him out but, they were always what his father wanted him to do. So, he was taking a step for his own independence, to his own freedom. He was old enough now, so why was he still under his dad's thumb? He still wanted his attention, he wanted his father's love. He'd outright beg for it if he had to. He stood at his father's office door; he would have knocked but he decided to just barge in and not care about his manners at this point. Gabriel Agreste looked up from his work rather annoyed.

"What is it now?"

"Father, I want more control over my schedule. I want the chance to decide what I do with my time. I'm eighteen now, and I would like to be treated as an adult."

Adrien stared at his father after he said his piece. He felt relieved that he could finally say what he wanted to say. Gabriel Agreste however, seemed unnerved.

"Very well. You are not my problem anymore."

Adrien grew indignant.

"Is that what I am? Your problem," he huffed out. "I have done everything you have ever asked me to do and still you deny me the only thing I ever wanted," he shouted.

"And what was that," Gabriel asked coldly.

"What do you think? You're my father, I'm your son. Was there a time even in its smallest measurement that you loved me at all," he asked feeling tears stinging his eyes.

"How can anyone love a pebble in their shoe," the man answered harshly.

Those words were like a knife to his heart. He couldn't believe his father said that about him. He closed his eyes tightly and looked to the floor, not wanting Gabriel to see how bad his words affected him. With a deep breath, he looked up with a steely expression.

"Then, this is goodbye; Gabriel."

Adrien walked out of the office, then it turned to a fast walk to his room. He transformed into Chat Noir and took to the rooftops. Turning into Chat always a reminded him of the freedom he longed for. The words his "father" spoke to him; it hurt him more than he cared to admit. He had to talk to someone; Nino maybe, but he was out of town with Alya. Then, he remembers a certain bakery where a fashion designer lived. He made it to an alleyway and released his transformation to make a phone call. There was one person he knew who could be there for him. He waited a few seconds till he heard the voice he longed to hear.

"Hello?"

"Mari? It's Adrien. Are you busy?"

"Just helping out in the bakery. What's up?"

"Don't worry about it. You're helping your parents," he said dejectedly.

"Adrien, don't do that. Why don't you come over; we could use your help."

Adrien thought about it. He's helped out there before and he liked it; it made him feel like he was contributing to something other than standing around and looking pretty.

"Ok, I'll be there soon," he said and hung up.

"It's gonna be ok, kid," said Plagg from his spot in Adrien's shirt.

Adrien smiled and scratched the little cat's head. When he got to the bakery, he noticed it was really busy today. He walked in to see Marinette and her mother trying to take care of customers. Sabine was the first to notice him.

"Oh Adrien! Can you help here in the front with Marinette? I need to help Tom in the back with orders."

"Sure thing," he smiled as he made his way to the counter to serve a customer while Marinette was restocking displays and trays of treats. Helping in the bakery helped him in getting his mind off of the incident with his father, but he needed to get it off his chest. Things eventually slowed down and Marinette got a chance to give Adrien a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, are you ok? Your call earlier today worried me."

"It's just," he sighed. "Can we go up to your room and talk?"

Marinette smiled and led him up to her room. Once the hatch was closed, Tikki and Plagg flew to each other and settled themselves somewhere in the room. Marinette sat on her chaise and patted the spot next to her. Adrien sat down and laced his fingers with hers. The two leaned into each other in the silence until Marinette decided to speak.

"So what happened?"

"I told my father I wanted more control of my schedule. Then, in a way he agreed but, he said I wouldn't be his problem anymore," he said with a growl.

"He said you were a problem?"

"Yeah, can you believe that?"

"Did anything else happen?"

Adrien's breath hitched and the tears stinging his eyes returned.

"I asked him if he ever loved me at all. He said, 'how could anyone love a pebble in their shoe'."

Then, the tears fell. It hurt so much to hear those words replayed in his head. Marinette gently cupped his face and made him look at her. She had tears, too.

"You are not a problem. I love you. So much, Kitty. Never forget that. I know my parents love you, Nino loves you and Alya does, too."

"And we love you, too," said Tikki as she and Plagg floated down towards them.

Tikki nuzzled his cheek while Plagg sat on his head.

"Thanks guys," he sniffed.

"Hey, lie down with me," smiled Marinette.

She leaned back on the chaise while Adrien curled up with his head on her chest, arms wrapped around her waist and his ear over her heart. She raked her fingers through his hair which caused him to relax more and begin to purr. Plagg and Tikki snuggled up with them.

"Feeling better," she asked.

"Yes, Princess. Thank you," he said as he nuzzled into her chest.

The four of them sat in silence, enjoying each other's presence.

 **Couldn't think of a better title. Bonus points if you know where the dialouge between Adrien and Gabriel is from ;)** **  
** **Is it sad that Gabriel would actually say something like this to his own son?**


	7. Spiders and Ice Cream

Marinette didn't have a problem with spiders; in fact, she was her home's resident spider killer. She even killed them at school whenever someone in the girls locker room freaked out. Yeah, she had no issues with them; that is until she became Ladybug and until she fought a spider based akuma. Arachnia was her name. She wore a black suit with a red spider on her chest. Eight legs were protruding from her back and had a large spear that held webbing on one end and her paralyzing venom in the other.

"Will you be alright my Lady?"

Chat was aware of Ladybug's aversion to spiders and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to handle this one.

"I'm fine Chat. I will admit I am creeped out a bit but we have a job a to do. Let's get to it!"

"So, the ladybug comes willingly into the spiders den. My children will dine on ladybug tonight!"

The akuma unleashed a horde of spiders at the duo. It was straight out of a horror movie. Chat grabbed his Lady and pole vaulted to the nearest roof.

"Where's bug spray when you need it," he yelled. "Stay here, my Lady. I'll distract it while you look for its akuma."

Chat leapt down to fight the akuma. Ladybug's eyes darted over every detail; then she spotted a broach on the red spider. She summoned her Lucky Charm and it was a handkerchief. How was this supposed to help? She took her yo-yo and swung in.

"We need to get that broach," she said to Chat.

"Right, any ideas?"

"If you can keep her focus on you I can sneak around from behind."

"Got it! Hey! Spider-woman! Don't you know that cats love to play with spiders!"

"But this time the cat will be the one caught in a web," sneered Arachnia as she brought forth a huge spider. Both Chat and Ladybug gulped.

Before the spider akuma, Ladybug was weary of them but could still squish them but when you had to stare down a life-sized one with its multiple black eyes, fangs and eight spindly legs. Ladybug had to work fast; she would help Chat first and then get the broach before her transformation went out. She lassoed the spiders legs together causing it to fall over. She turned to Arachnia who was angered that her pet was defeated easily. Then she smirked sinisterly.

"If you thought that was a nightmare, enjoy your time in the box."

She created a clear box and threw it at Chat but Ladybug pushed him away and ended up in the box.

"Ladybug," cried Chat.

Ladybug was in trouble, she knew that. Her earnings had already beeped so she hoped Chat could get her out. She thought things couldn't get any worse; they did. Spiders appeared out of nowhere and began to crawl over Ladybug. She screamed and quickly covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt the tears in her eyes and prayed that Chat would do something. He watched in horror as the spiders covered his Lady. He could hear her screams and her frightened expression would haunt him. He turned to Arachnia.

"You really make my skin crawl."

"Come on then, Kitty. Time to get tangled in my web."

She fired webs at him and he quickly dodged them. He grabbed her staff and used her webbing against her, trapping her within her own web. Chat grabbed the broach, activated his Cataclysm and destroyed the box where Ladybug was trapped. He destroyed the broach and hoped Ladybug was able to purify it. What he didn't expect was a a little red bug fly by and grab the butterfly. She glowed and the purple butterfly turned white and she released it.

"Bye bye little butterfly," she said sweetly. She looked over at Chat. "Hi Chat Noir, she's really shaken up right now."

"I wouldn't blame her. Where is she?"

"Follow me. I tried to hold out as long as I could, but once the box was gone and the transformation ended, she ran. You should calm her down enough to cast the Miraculous Cure."

Tikki led Chat Noir to an alley. He heard heavy breathing and quiet sobs. He hated that his Lady was feeling like this. He looked behind some boxes and saw something he never expected; his classmate, Marinette shaking like a leaf in fear and eyes red from crying. She was using the Lucky Charm handkerchief to dry her eyes. Chat's heart went out to her.

"Princess," he said quietly.

Mairnette's head jerked toward him with a terrified look on her face.

"Adrien," she whimpered.

He released his transformation and knelt down in front of Marinette. He held his arms out, open and waiting for her.

"Come here," he said softly.

She instantly grabbed him, burying her face into his chest while his arms encased her shaking body. Tikki managed to get the handkerchief out of Marinette's hands to cast the Miraculous Cure.

"It's alright, Princess. You're safe," he whispered. She calmed down a bit before he spoke again. "Hey, you want some ice cream? It's my treat."

Marinette just nodded and the two of them headed for a parlor nearby.

The next day at school, Marinette was feeling a little better but the images of being covered in the spiders still sent shivers down her spine. She even contemplated having arachnophobia now, but she wasn't sure. She was at her locker when she noticed a small spider lowering itself in front of her face. She shrieked and ran away leaving her locker open.

"Wow, she ran out faster than when she sees Adrien," smirked Alya to herself as she closed her friends locker for her.

That little scene gave someone a very cruel idea. Chloe bought a giant rubber spider attached to a string and sat behind Marinette to wait for her to return from lunch. Marinette and Alya walked in and noticed Chloe wasn't in her normal seat.

"What? Just trying a different viewpoint," she scoffed trying to act nonchalant.

Marinette and Alya just shrugged and sat down. Chloe waited until everyone wasn't paying attention when she pulled the fake spider out. She dangled it near Marinette's shoulder. It was this point in time Adrien and Nino walked in. Adrien looked up and saw what Chloe was doing.

"Mari," he began.

It was too late, Marinette turned her head to see what was on her shoulder and was face to face with the creature. She screamed and flailed and ran out as fast as she could. Sure it was embarrassing to react that way but fear was more powerful than embarrassment and she tried to get away. She didn't even hear the laughter and people shouting her name and she barely registered a hand grabbing her arm. It wasn't until she felt two strong arms wrap around her that she realized someone went after her.

"Mari, Mari, it's ok. It's ok," said a soft gentle voice.

Marinette latched on real quick and gripped a cotton shirt hard. She began to whimper.

"Shhh, shhh. It's alright. It's alright," the voice said again.

It sound like a guy's voice and it was familiar. She felt a petting sensation on her head. She began to calm down a bit.

"You're safe now, I've got you."

Once she relaxed and opened her eyes, she saw a familiar black shirt with green, purple and yellow stripes. She looked up to see concerned green eyes looking down at her fearful blue ones.

"Adrien," she whimpered.

"It's alright, Princess. It wasn't a real one, just a fake one."

"Why did she have to do that," she whined and buried her face into his chest.

"I don't know. But I am giving her a piece of my mind later."

"Unless Alya beats you to it," said Marinette with a chuckle.

"Yeah, emphasis on the beats," Adrien chuckled back. He pushed her head up and kissed her forehead. "Come on, lets get back to class ok? You want me to sit with you?"

Marinette nodded as Adrien lead her back into the classroom. They noticed that Chloe was back in her original seat and Nino occupied Marinette's seat next to Alya who kept giving Chloe a death glare. Adrien also sent a glare to Chloe as he took his spot with Marinette in Nino's. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"How about some ice cream after school. My treat."

"Can I get triple chocolate?"

"I'd get you every flavor if it makes you feel better."

"Thanks, Kitty," she whispered leaning into him and he hugged her.


	8. Put the Glass Down

They had a substitute today and it wasn't just any sub, it was Mademoiselle Ellen Dubois. She let the students have a bit of a free period to finish homework from other classes, study, work on personal projects or chat quietly. When it was close to the time of the period's end, she got up and poured herself a glass of water.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please." When she had their attention, she continued. "How many of you here are or have been stressed?" Practically everyone raised their hands. "Let me give you a lesson on stress management." She picked up the glass of water; everyone expected her to ask the "half empty or half full" question. What she asked instead was surprising. "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Everyone took a moment to think and observe the glass of water.

"I deduce it to be about 8.5 ounces," stated Max.

"I'd say about 10 ounces," said Adrien.

"No, 20 ounces," said Kim, wanting to call a higher number than them.

"Get real meat head," said Alix rolling her eyes. "12 ounces tops."

"Alright, alright," said Ms. Dubois. "The absolute weight doesn't matter." The students were confused now. "It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." Some of the students seemed to have caught on to what she was getting at. "The stresses and worries in life are like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed-incapable of doing anything. The solution, put the glass down," she said as she placed the glass of water on the desk.

The room was quiet; everyone was feeling the impact of the words she spoke. For two students, it made so much sense. But to them, their biggest stress in life involved being a superhero. That's not something you just "put down" so how was that going to work? Marinette raised her hand.

"What if you can't put it down?"

Adrien was a bit shocked she asked that since he was thinking the same thing. Ms Dubois noticed his reaction and smiled.

"Then you find someone to help you hold it."

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Everyone filed out except for two; they just sat in their seats. Marinette just looked at him while Adrien had turned to look at her. They didn't have to say anything, but just smile. Both silently promising to hold each other's glass.

 **I know this ones shorter than most of what I've written but the message is there. I saw a video on Facebook that inspired this.**


	9. Friendship Tree

Chloe was at it again. This time her power trip was over the top and she set her sights on Marinette. She insulted everything about her, her hair, her clothes, her clumsiness and her parents livelihood. Nothing was good enough about Marinette in Chloe's eyes, especially when she knew of Marinette's friendship with Adrien. That would never do.

"Come on, Maritrash; Adrien is only nice to you because you're pathetic. As if he'd ever be friends with someone like you when he has someone like moi," she sneered haughtily.

Marinette normally would have rolled her eyes and walked away but, her self-esteem took a beating today and she didn't have the strength to fight back or shrug it off. Her shoulders bunched up and her eyes kept staring at the floor. Two people were standing outside the classroom where the verbal abuse was taking place. One was Adrien Agreste and the other was Ellen Dubois, a substitute teacher. They had eavesdropped the whole conversation and both were upset at Chloe for her harsh words to Marinette. Ms. Ellen hoped Adrien would step in but he seemed hesitant so Ms. Ellen walked in.

"Miss Chloe, I would advise you stop this abuse at once! Marinette has done nothing to you to warrant this kind of hate! Apologize at once!"

"Ugh! Do you know who I am?!"

"Why? Did you forget?"

"Ugh! I don't have to take this! Later, Maritrash!"

"Chloe! That's enough," cried Ms. Ellen as Chloe left. She looked over at Marinette. "Are you alright," she asked softly.

"I will be. I need to get home," she said sadly.

"Ok. Don't listen to her. You are one of the best students at this school and I'm sure everyone agrees with me when I say what an amazing young lady you are."

"Thank you, Ms. Ellen."

Marinette walked out of the classroom and didn't notice that Adrien was there. He felt bad for not standing up for her when he should have. Some knight he turned out to be.

"Adrien, may I speak with you for a moment," asked Ms. Ellen.

Adrien walked in nervously, unsure of what the teacher wanted to say.

"Yes, Ms. Ellen?"

"How good friends are you with Chloe?"

"Well, she was my only childhood friend."

"And do you find anything wrong with her current behavior?"

"Yes, I do," he said dejectedly. "I know I should say something but, I don't know. Our fathers have close connections with each other and if I do say something it might get back to my father and..."

"I will stop you right there. That's not an excuse to let a 'friend' hurt people like that. If she is your friend, then as her friend you need to say something."

"But, I've known her for so long. She wasn't always like this. I want to say something, but..."

"Adrien, let me give you a lesson on friendships. I categorize relationships like a tree and some people are like the leaves. They move in whatever way the wind blows, very unstable. When the seasons change, they wither and die, they are gone. Most people in the world are like that. They are there to take from the tree and give shade. We can't fault them for it because that's what they are there for. Some people are like branches, but be careful because they can fool you. They can make you believe they are a strong and good friend but the moment you step out, they break and leave you high and dry. But if you have two or three people that are at the bottom of the tree, the roots if you will. Keep them around, they are going nowhere. They don't care if anyone knows them or if they are seen, they are there for you and that's all that matters. Without the roots, the tree won't live. Hold onto your roots and let the others go."

"But, it's not that easy," said Adrien.

"No one said it would be. But it will get easier when you learn to love yourself. There comes a point in your life when you have to think; what's it going to be, you or me. You will make a decision. What I normally do, is I tell the person that whatever wrong they are doing is causing a problem and it needs to be fixed if we are going to stay friends. If not, there will be problems. If they are making the effort to fix it, keep them around. That's a leaf that's growing up to be something else. But if they continue doing whatever it is that's hurting you after you asked them to stop; they don't care, move on let them go. No matter how much it hurts. It's not worth it."

"I see. That makes sense, but I don't want to lose Chloe."

"If you give her the option to change and make herself better and she takes it, then she's worth keeping around. But if she doesn't, she needs to know you can't be friends with someone that toxic. Appearances don't matter if your soul has been tainted."

Adrien nodded his thanks and left for his afternoon photoshoots. He thought about what the teacher said and she was right. Chloe needed a chance to change and he was the only one to give it to her. So once the photoshoot was done, he asked his driver to take him to the hotel where Chloe lived. He approached her room with his nerves on edge. He knocked and Chloe answered.

"Adrikins! What brings you here?"

He steeled himself and put on a serious face.

"Chloe, we need to talk."

 **Yes, Ms. Dubois is back again with a nugget of wisdom. I got this from a Madea speech. How awesome would it be to see Madea take on Chloe; oh it would be hilarious.**


	10. Feed Mari

**Lot of you asked for a sequel to Feed Me so here it is. This is an example of how far I'm willing to go when it comes to these situations. Enjoy!**

It's not kinky. He didn't care what Nino said, it was a sweet, intimate and romantic gesture. Marinette didn't seem to mind it so he kept asking for bites from her plate and he in turn would allow a bite from his plate to be fair. Then he thought, why don't I feed her. He was surprised he hadn't thought of it before. The first time he did it, he let her try a bite of his pasta dish at one of their dinner dates. Seeing her close her mouth on his fork looked so sexy to him, he felt his cheeks get warm. Another time, he let her try a bite of his ice cream. Licking the spoon made his ears, cheeks and neck turn red. Then, thanks to the Internet, he decided on a more intimate date. He bought fruit and sweets as desert after dinner to eat at his house in his room. The twist, he'd feed Mari while she was blindfolded. And if he was lucky, she'd do it to him. Said night arrived and Marinette was surprised at what he had planned. He set up a blanket by the windows where the moonlight was at its brightest. A few candles provided an extra soft glow and a platter of strawberries and raspberries with a side of whipped cream sat with a box of mixed chocolates.

"What is all this," she asked.

"Well, I thought I'd try a more romantic setting for us feeding each other. To make it more interesting, I have a blindfold."

"Wow, how kinky," Mari sassed.

"It's not kinky," pouted Adrien. "You sound like Nino."

"I'm sorry, Kitty," she giggled and ruffled his hair.

The two sat down and Adrien asked if she would go first and she complied by putting the blindfold on. First, Adrien took a strawberry and dipped it in whipped cream.

"Open up, Princess."

Marinette opened her mouth and Adrien eased the fruit in. She licked the cream first and then bit off the strawberry. She hummed in delight and he dipped the fruit again. She opened her mouth when she felt the cream on her lips and ate the rest of the strawberry. She missed the bit of cream at the corner of her mouth. She heard Adrien giggle.

"What?"

"You have some cream on your mouth."

Mari tried to lick it off but kept missing. Her actions caused heat to course through Adrien's body. He finally leaned in and kissed it off.

"Is it gone," she asked as he pulled away.

"Yeah," he said taking his finger and dipping it in the cream. "Open. And careful, don't bite."

She opened her mouth again and she felt the whipped cream on her tongue and closed her lips on his finger. She made a noise acknowledging the finger. She wrapped her tongue around it and he felt his cheeks blush. He pulled the finger out and grabbed a piece of chocolate.

"See if you can guess the flavor," he said as he placed the chocolate in her mouth.

She chewed and reveled in its sweetness and fruity flavor.

"Chocolate orange?"

"You're correct my Lady."

"How about another?"

"As you wish," said Adrien picking up another piece.

He placed it in her mouth but she kept a finger as well.

"Mari, I need that back."

She wrapped her tongue again before she released the finger. She bit the chocolate and she nearly squealed in delight.

"Chocolate caramel!"

"Your favorite."

Adrien gave her some raspberries and another strawberry and cream before feeding her two more pieces of chocolate.

"Adrien, I think it's your turn now," said Marinette as she removed the blindfold.

"Very well." He placed the blindfold over his eyes.

Marinette started with whipped cream on her finger.

"Open wide Kitty and please don't bite," she said seductively.

Adrien did so and felt the sweet cream on his tongue as well the her finger. He closed his mouth and let his tongue wrap around her finger. He was amazed at how his other senses seemed heightened with his sight blinded. He tasted, he felt everything that touched him and heard every giggle from his sweet Princess. He then felt something at his mouth and opened it. He bit down and tasted the caramel chocolate.

"Delicious my Lady."

She fed him more fruits and cream and then got an idea. Marinette placed a piece of chocolate between her lips and leaned forward. She touched his cheek and he instinctively leaned into her hand while she placed her lips against his. She pushed the chocolate into his mouth with her tongue and placed a quick kiss on his lips before pulling back. He whined at her sudden departure but then remembered he had chocolate in his mouth. This was a new flavor.

"Espresso," he said.

"Thought you'd like that one," said Marinette.

"Shall we continue this?"

"I'm finished with desert," said Marinette crawling over to him. "I want something else."

Adrien shivered at the husky tone her voice took on. He couldn't see it but he knew what kind of face she was making.

"Wha-what d-does m-my Lady want," he stuttered.

Marinette climbed into his lap, straddling his hips.

"You."

She attacked his lips as if she'd never kiss them again. Adrien was surprised at first but he soon responded in kind. The blindfold just made him feel and taste everything. She pulled back and yanked the blindfold off. Hungry blue eyes met hungry green ones.

"Say it," demanded Adrien.

"Feed me," she replied huskily.

The two fed each other long into the night.


	11. Poetry Slam

**Had this floating around my head so I had to write it Enjoy!**

Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien were meeting at a small café because Mylene invited the entire class to a Poetry Slam. It was an activity that Mylene participated in regularly, even Ivan was a regular.

"So Mylene, how does this work," asked Alya.

"You sign your name and when it's your turn, recite your poem."

"Do people write poems," asked Marinette.

"Some do, but it's mostly free verse; make it up as you go. Here's the sign up and make sure it gets passed around."

Alya, Marinette and Adrien both signed up with the exception of Nino, who said he speaks through his music.

The stage was simple; a stool in front of a mic stand with various artsy backgrounds and a spotlight. No applause with hands but snaps of the fingers. Alya had two others go before her and now, her turn was nigh. She took her place in front of the microphone.

 _The truth is what I seek_

 _The evidence is all around_

 _Yet I am blind for Justice is blind_

 _Blinded to what is in front of me_

 _But I cannot and I will not stop_

 _Till all is exposed_

 _Till the truth is known_

 _I immerse myself in it_

 _I engage, I inform_

 _I search_

 _But cannot find_

 _For the truth is just out of reach_

 _At least for the time being_

The light goes out and snaps were heard all around. Alya made it back to her seat.

"Nice work, babe," said Nino.

"Did you write that," asked Adrien.

"Nope, free styled it."

"What's the meaning behind it," asked Marinette.

"Isn't it obvious? My quest for the truth about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Both Adrien and Marinette felt a bit nervous at that. A few more people presented and now it was Marinette.

 _What do you see?_

 _When you look at me?_

 _Am I just a student?_

 _Am I just a bakers daughter?_

 _I am a designer_

 _I am a friend_

 _But I want to be more_

 _More than what you see_

 _Look beyond what is on the surface_

 _But fear holds me back_

 _Fear of disappointment_

 _Fear of not living up to expectations_

 _Fear of being less_

 _Exposed, open, vulnerable_

 _Would you like what you see?_

 _Would you accept what's underneath?_

 _No, you wouldn't_

 _That's why_

 _I wear the mask_

The snapping of fingers erupted and Marinette returned to her seat. Alya patted her friend on the back, no stranger to her friend's insecure feelings. Nino casted a sympathetic smile and Adrien was surprised. He had no idea she felt like she was wearing a mask sometimes; like him. He took Marinette's hand and gave it a squeeze and a soft smile. It was his way of saying, I understand. Adrien was the last one of the night and he felt he had to end it on an epic note. He saw how honest Marinette was so, he would be too, for once in his life.

 _Shackled_

 _Caged_

 _Imprisoned_

 _These words don't describe the good life_

 _It is the ugly truth_

 _Hidden behind the glitz and glam_

 _Hidden behind the bars of high expectations_

 _Break out_

 _Escape_

 _Flee_

 _What would I give for the chance_

 _The chance to live life as it should be_

 _To see what I have missed_

 _To see what exists beyond the borders of social constrictions_

 _Keys_

 _Unlock_

 _Open_

 _It is what I need_

 _It is what I crave_

 _It has been presented to me and how foolish would it be_

 _If I didn't take what has been offered to me_

 _It_

 _Is_

 _Freedom_

There were no snaps of fingers this time, merely stunned silence. Marinette had some inkling of what Adrien's life was like but hearing how it was stifling him broke her heart for him. She began to clap for him and soon, so did Alya and Nino and then the whole cafe. Adrien smiled at them in appreciation and made his way off the stage. He was suddenly caught off guard by a small body colliding with him in a bear hug. He realized it was Marinette and she held onto him like he was leaving for a very long time.

"If you ever need a break from your life, you are more than welcomed to come to my home," Marinette whispered in his ear.

Adrien blushed but he smiled and hugged her back tightly.

"Thanks, Mari. I believe I will."

While he may been thinking about being Chat Noir as his key to freedom, he was more than willing to add being with Marinette as a key as well.


	12. Tending the Roots

_He approached her room with his nerves on edge. He knocked and Chloe answered._

 _"Adrikins! What brings you here?"_

 _He steeled himself and put on a serious face._

 _"Chloe, we need to talk."_

"Oh, about what?"

Adrien walked past her and stood in the middle of the room. He took deep breaths to help calm his nerves and to think through what he had to say.

"What happened, Chloe? Just, what happened?" He turned to her. "The Chloe I met when we were kids was nice, funny, sweet as can be and now...I barely even recognize you so what happened? What happened to my childhood friend?"

"What do you mean? Nothing happened. I'm the same as I've always been."

Her blatant denial was astounding to him.

"Are you serious right now?! The way you've been acting lately proves otherwise! In fact, since I've started going to school I've witnessed your change! You're vindictive, spiteful, haughty, always demanding things be done your way, tear other people apart because you deem them unworthy! While you equally give our classmates and others the cold shoulder there's two people who receive the worst of it!"

"And who might they be," Chloe said holding back her anger.

"Sabrina and Marinette. Sabrina's supposed to be your best friend but you treat her more like a slave than anything! You blackmail her into doing your homework and other things you don't want to do by telling her that she's nothing without you and no one will be her friend! What kind of person does that?! It's emotional and psychological abuse!"

"Oh please, Sabrina adores me. I don't make her do anything."

"Because you've engrained it so much into her head that she worships you in order to stay your friend! And don't even get me started on Marinette!"

"That piece of garbage," Chloe snarled.

"See! Right there! Why is she garbage?! What has she ever done to you?!"

"I don't have to answer that."

"For once in your life be honest with me! Why do you hate Marinette?!"

"I'm jealous of her, okay?!"

The outburst causes them to stay silent for a moment.

"Why are you jealous," Adrien asked calmly.

"Everyone thinks she's the greatest thing since sliced bread! They come to her for help! And she gives it willingly! Before she came along, people came to me! Now, I barely have anyone pay attention to me so I have to get it by any means necessary!"

"By treating people like dirt?! There's no logic in that!"

"It's better than nothing! My father barely pays attention to me only when I ask for something! My mother never did unless it had something to do with my appearance! Your situation is no better than mine so how is it that you still have friends?!"

"Because I've seen what the opposite can do; and I realized something. I only have three good friends, Nino, Alya and Marinette. They are my roots and I have to take care of them but when a branch like you tries to harm one of my roots I have to say something. You were a good friend to me when we were kids and I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't around and for that I will always be grateful. However, you've done some horrible things to people and I can't be around someone who goes around hurting people on purpose. So, I'm going to give you a chance to change if we are going to remain friends. If I see you making an effort, I will still be your friend otherwise; I'll have to cut your branch off."

Chloe stayed silent while Adrien's words sank in.

"I don't know how," she said quietly.

Adrien smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Start by apologizing to Sabrina and to everyone you've hurt."

"What if they don't believe me?"

"They will, in time. You just have to be patient and keep trying. I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you, Adrien," said Chloe and for the first time, an actual smile.

"Anytime, Chloe."

After Adrien left the hotel, he went to the bakery to check on Marinette. They laid down together on her chaise with Marinette's head against his chest and him playing with her hair.

"Hey," Adrien said to get her attention.

"What?"

"Tomorrow, don't be surprised if you see Chloe acting nice. I had a talk with her earlier and convinced her to change if me and her were going to be friends."

"Really? You think she'll do it," scoffed Marinette.

"Hey, I know she's done some horrible things but she deserves a chance," chastised Adrien.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"I mean, if you were her, wouldn't you want a chance to redeem yourself?"

"Yeah, it just won't be easy."

"I'm not expecting you two to become best friends right away but at least show her you can be nice to her."

"If she's willing to try then I will as well."

"Thanks Mari, that's all I ask."

The next day, Marinette managed to get to class earlier than usual and was sitting with Alya in the classroom. As everyone else walked in, Chloe made her way towards Marinette's seat.

"Good morning," Chloe said nervously.

"Good morning," Marinette answered back.

"I, um wanted to apologize for yesterday and for well, everything. Can you forgive me?"

Chloe looked away, feeling so helpless and scared; it was a sight Marinette never thought she'd see in her blonde classmate. She saw Adrien standing there looking a bit worried himself. Marinette remembered what he said and gave Chloe a big smile.

"Thank you, Chloe. I forgive you."

Chloe looked up and smiled, letting out a breath she had been holding. But nothing prepared her for what was next. Marinette hugged her. She was shocked that Marinette was willing to do that. Chloe tentatively hugged her back and almost broke down. The rest of the class was also shocked by this display, unsure what to make of it. Alya and Nino were surprised but they smiled at the scene. Marinette shifted her gaze to Adrien who also had a big smile on his face. He mouthed, "thank you." Marinette nodded and released Chloe. She gave Chloe a pat on the shoulder and they both sat down at their seats. Neither were sure where this could lead but both girls knew it was a step in the right direction.

 **Lot of you wondered what the conversation between Adrien and Chloe would be from "Friendship Tree" so here you go**


	13. Your Value

**With my birthday coming up, I'm going to upload some new stories and updates as my gift to you. Please enjoy! This could take place before the Miraculous BeanBoozled Challenge**

Ms. Ellen Dubois was back again as a sub and thought of a great idea for a life lesson. She pulled a 20€ out of her purse and began to get the students attention.

"Excuse me, class! Can I have your attention?" They settled down and she began by waving the money. "Who wants it?"

All the students raised their hands. Who couldn't use an extra 20€? Then, Ms Ellen creased the bill.

"Do you still want it?"

Once again, all hands go up. Then, she throws the money down and tramples it and asks again.

"Do you still want the bill?"

"Yes," said all the students.

"Today, you get an important lesson. Whatever I do with this bill, you still want it. Because the value didn't change. It will always be 20€. In life, you will often feel desperate, poorly treated by others, or even hated."

Marinette glanced over at Chloe who slumped in her chair.

"You will feel worthless," Ms. Ellen continued.

She let that last word sink in a bit. Adrien definitely had felt his shared moments of worthlessness at the hands of his father and the other employees at his dad's company. He even felt it as Chat Noir when everyone called him a second rate sidekick for Ladybug.

"But be aware," Ms. Ellen began. "No matter what pain, what misery you go through or how many people push you away, you will never lose your value to those that love you."

That hit Adrien like a ton of bricks. Did anyone love him? He hasn't felt sure of that lately. He was tempted to look at Marinette when Ms. Ellen spoke again.

"Even if you aren't rich and have nearly nothing, you never lose your value."

The room got quiet, everyone in deep thought. Then the bell rang and everyone was dismissed. Marinette noticed Adrien's sluggish behavior and told Alya to go on ahead. Alya nodded and dragged Nino with her, much to his dismay. Marinette saw they were alone in the room so she spoke up.

"What's wrong, Kitty," she asked in a sweet voice sitting next to him.

"Nothing, I'm ok," he said weakly not looking at her.

"Kitty, I thought we agreed to not lie to each other."

"Sorry, just, not feeling my best today."

"Did what Ms. Ellen said get to you?"

"Yeah."

"Which part?"

"All of it."

Marinette seemed to sense which part affected him the most. She extended her hand under his chin and turned his face to her's.

"You mean so much to me and to Paris. I need to do better at reminding you of that. I couldn't ask for a better partner than you," she smiled sweetly.

While he appreciated the thought, he still felt unsure. He still loved her, but he backed off since they learned who they were under the masks and he didn't want to pressure her or force a relationship he thought she didn't want. Still, it'd be nice to know if she did feel the same way.

"Sure, partners," he smiled weakly.

Marinette knew there was more that he wanted to say but a chime from his phone pulled him away.

"Patrol tonight?"

"You mind if I skip this time," he asked getting up.

"Are you ok", she asked following him.

"I-I will be. See you later, Mari."

Adrien left while Marinette tried to figure out what was wrong with her friend.

Back home at the bakery, Marinette helped with the cleanup before heading upstairs to do homework before patrol. It was peaceful for a while, until a black blur flew in.

"Plagg? What are you doing here," asked Tikki.

"Can you come talk to Adrien? He's annoying me!"

"What, he didn't give you your cheese when you wanted," snickered Marinette.

"No! He's still upset from today! He's being all emo about it," Plagg whined.

"Is that why he wanted to skip patrol?"

"Partly, I know there's more to it."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how he feels about you, Marinette," said Plagg in a serious tone.

"Come on, he was just being a flirt. Both to me and as Ladybug," said Marinette nervously. "He wasn't serious about it."

"Are you stupid or something," yelled Plagg.

"Plagg! That wasn't very nice," chided Tikki.

"I don't care! She's just as big of an idiot as he is when it comes to this! Listen here because I'm only gonna say this once and if you tell Adrien I will flat out deny and mess up your fabrics, the good kind." Marinette nodded nervously as Plagg narrowed his eyes and he continued. "He's been in love with you since day one. I hear about it all the time it makes me sick! Sure it was your Ladybug side he's only known but he always told me he'd accept both sides of the mask. All he ever wanted was to share his life with you, both parts of him and you. When he found out it was you, I swear he acted like he was high on catnip. He was so happy; happier than the first day he put the ring on and when he first met you."

"But, how come he didn't say anything," asked Marinette.

"Because he didn't want to pressure you. He was so scared you'd leave him. Like his mother did."

That made Marinette's heart sink. She felt ashamed that she hadn't done a good job of showing her kitty how much he meant to her and that he didn't have to worry about that.

"Marinette," asked Tikki worriedly.

"I know you care for him as much as he cares for you but you're both so stupidly scared of messing up that you're going to end up doing so anyway. One of you needs to bite the bullet and say it! I'm tired of all the dancing around you guys are doing," yelled Plagg.

Marinette knew he was right. She stood up, transformed and made her way to Adrien's house. She carefully lowered herself in front of his bedroom window searching for him. Plagg had already made it back and got Adrien's attention. He was at the window with a surprised look.

"My Lady," he said opening to window. "What brings you here?"

"Spots off," Marinette whispered and in a flash, her suit was gone and replaced with Marinette's pajamas.

"Mari, what's going - mmpf."

Marinette grabbed Adrien's shirt and brought his lips to hers. It took Adrien a few seconds to realize what was happening till he closed his eyes and kissed back. He snaked his arms around her waist while Marinette wrapped hers around his neck. When the need for air became to great, the broke apart but not without leaving a few pecks.

"My Lady?"

"You mean so much to me kitty. I am so sorry for not telling you that often. Never forget your value."

"Thank you for telling me," he said with a sweet smile.

"Also, I love you. Both as Chat and Adrien. I couldn't ask for a better friend, partner and if you want to be...boyfriend?"

Adrien's eyes went wide and his smile grew bigger.

"Does this answer your question, Princess?" Adrien kissed her sweetly. "I'll be your boyfriend if you'll be my girlfriend."

"Absolutely," she kissed him again.


	14. Puppies vs Kitties

Mylene was sitting on the steps of school with her new furry friend. Her dad brought it over on his way to a practice so she could take care of it since she got done with school for the day. It was a tri-colored basset hound with floppy ears and droopy face. Rose and Juleka came up to see the puppy.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest," Rose squealed petting the puppy.

"I know, I love her so much," cried Mylene.

"What's her name," asked Juleka.

"Pattycakes."

"I love it! So cute," squealed Rose again.

By now, Marinette and Alya came by and saw the puppy.

"Oh Mylene! How adorable," cried Marinette.

All the girls kept petting the puppy and Marinette ended up holding it for a bit. Nino and Adrien walked by and saw the crowd.

"Hey Mari, when did you get a dog," asked Nino.

"Oh she's mine," spoke up Mylene. "Her name is Pattycakes."

"She's pretty cute, right Adrien," asked Marinette.

"Yeah, I guess. I think kittens are cuter."

"Oh come on, how can you think a face like this isn't cute," said Marinette.

Adrien looked at the pups droopy ears and sad looking eyes. He had to admit, she was cute.

"Yeah, puppies are cute in their own right, but you can't beat kittens."

"Oh really," said Marinette.

"Really. Kittens are mischievous and playful. Not mention curious."

"Puppies are the same way. Plus they give the best kisses," said Marinette as she nuzzled the puppy who gave her cheek a lick. "And have you ever been 'attacked' by a heard of puppies? It's the best thing ever!"

"Try a herd of kittens climbing all over you," retorted Adrien.

"But they have sharp claws," retorted Marinette.

"Puppies have sharp teeth," he answered back.

"At least puppies are always affectionate," started Marinette.

"Kittens can be, too," Adrien huffed.

"Only when they want to and are pretty temperamental. If I scratched them wrong, I get punished for it."

"I'll give you that, but they only let one person do it."

"You can also train puppies to do tricks," stated Marinette.

"You can train kittens, too. They're just stubborn."

"Here, why don't you try and hold her and see for yourself," said Marinette handing the puppy to Adrien.

Adrien held the puppy and just stared at her. Her droopy eyes looking at his. He had to admit, she looked adorable and the whimper she made nearly made his heart melt.

"Not that this isn't entertaining, but Mari don't we need to get going," asked Alya.

"Right, sorry Alya," said Marinette handing the puppy back to Mylene.

"So Mari, which do you prefer? Kittens or puppies," asked Adrien.

"Well, I like puppies. But I do have a soft spot for a certain black kitty," she said with a wink leaving a blushing Adrien behind.

 **Fun fact: I actually had a tri-colored Bassett Hound named Pattycakes as a kid. I love Bassett Hounds; their droopy ears and expression is so cute. This is a short one but I love it. Enjoy it!**


	15. Baby Cakes

Spring usually meant the promise of new beginnings, of new life. From trees snd flowers to animals and humans. For the Dupain-Cheng bakery, it was a busy time. This particular spring brought out a baby boom for the citizens of Paris. Orders flooded the bakery for cakes and treats for birth announcements, gender reveal parties and baby showers. Even though Marinette was a full-time fashion student at university, she said she'd help out when she could. Never mind that the final stage of her Spring collection was due but she found time to finish her designs, help bake and decorate cakes and spend time with Adrien. He knew how busy she was and often times he stepped in to help at the bakery as well, just only with the front counter. He wandered into the kitchen to see Marinette decorating two dozen cupcakes for a baby shower the next day; it was for a little boy. She used a variation of blue, green and yellow icing with sugar rubber duckies and frogs and rattles as toppers. Despite how frazzled Marinette should be, she had a soft smile on her face and Adrien couldn't help but notice a type of glow as well.

"They look great," he commented.

"They are adorable looking if I do say so myself. The client went with a Down by the Pond theme. They showed us the decorations and asked us to match it. Oh it looked so cute!"

Adrien loved seeing the look on her face when she was confronted with cute things and to hear her gushing about it. They heard the sound of the oven ding.

"Can you get that? It's the cake for the gender reveal party," said Marinette.

"Gender reveal?"

"Yeah, some people have a small get together with family to see what the gender of the baby is. Pink for girl, blue for boy. And we decorate the outside of it in neutral colors until they cut the cake."

"So this one is going to be a girl then," stated Adrien as he pulled a pink cake out of the oven.

"Yes and the one who ordered it wanted it to have chocolate strawberries on top. The mom-to-be eats them like they are going out of style."

"Sounds like my kind of craving," smiled Adrien. "I better get going. Dinner tonight?"

"Well, I need to work on my collection," she said nervously.

"It's fine, I'll bring it to your studio. Mexican sound good?"

"Oooooh, tacos!"

"Tacos it is. Bye Princess, love you."

"Love you, too Kitty."

Later that week, Nino and Adrien were hanging out for some guy time. That meant playing a few rounds of video games, like Mortal Kombat X.

"Dude, your combos are weak," trashed talked Nino.

"Hey, Johnny Cage is my boy! I know his moves better than anyone! And who's the one close to death? Oh, it's Fatality time!"

Adrien activated Johnny Cage's "Here's Johnny" fatality on Nino's Sub-Zero. The two took a break when Nino's phone buzzed. He snickered and shook his head.

"What? Alya has another crack theory on Ladybug," snickered Adrien. Thankfully, Adrien already knew Marinette is Ladybug.

"Nah man, she's just gushing about a co-workers new baby. Her workplace has several women who either just got pregnant, is a few months along or has just had their baby. Man, Alya's got a bad case of Baby Fever."

"Baby Fever? What's that?"

"It's when women develop an obsession over babies. It usually happens when a number of them are pregnant or have just recently given birth and those that aren't just can't help but think about it."

"What usually happens?"

"For Alya, she goes on about how cute they look and constantly looks at baby clothes and toys. Say, you said the bakery's been busy with baby related cakes right?"

"Yeah?"

"Has Mari been acting differently?"

"Well, now that you mention it. She's decorated most of the cakes and I remember seeing sketches of baby clothes in her book. She also has been smiling a lot and I swear her face glows every time she does."

"Yep, Mari's got the fever."

"Do you think that Mari might..."

"Well, I don't know. You should ask her first. Alya told me she's not ready for it and frankly I'm not either. I'd rather we enjoy each other's company before adding Nino Jr to the mix."

"Shouldn't you get married first?"

"I plan on it and even then we'd still wait. Have you thought about it?"

"Yeah, I just haven't asked her about it."

"I suggest you do. You guys already act like your married, might as well make it official," Nino winked.

The next night, Marinette was over at Adrien's just to cuddle and watch movies. Adrien felt it was as good of time as any.

"Hey Princess?"

"Hmmm?"

"What do you see in your future?"

"What? What brought this on?"

"Just answer the question, please?"

"Ok, well; I see a house with a large backyard with room to play. A big kitchen where meals are made full of warmth and love. At least three kids and a dog or cat and a hamster."

"And who do think are the parents?"

"Well, me as the mother and...you as the papa," said Marinette as she blushed at the last part.

"And when do you think this might happen?"

"Not sure. It's best not to put a timetable on such things. They'll happen when the time is right. And right now, I'd like to enjoy this time with you; just us."

"Yeah, I agree My Lady."

"Again, what brought this up?"

"Well, just seeing you decorating all those baby cakes and the look on your face while doing it and the baby clothes sketches; I don't know, I just thought I'd ask so we'd be on the same page."

"Does this mean," wondered Marinette as she turned to face him.

Adrien smiled and kissed her.

"When the time is right, Princess."

A few months later, Marinette was in her studio working on her latest project with Adrien walked in with a four small boxes.

"Up for a sweets break?"

"Yeah, sure."

Adrien set the boxes down. Marinette eyed him while opening the first one. It was a mini cake with the words "Will". She opened the next ones and in order they spelled out, "Will you marry me?" Marinette gasped and turned to Adrien who was already down on one knee and holding the ring box. Tears formed in her eyes and she tried her best not to breakdown.

"Marinette, when you described what you saw for yourself in the future it turns out that was exactly what I saw with you so let's make it a reality. My Lady and my Princess, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Marinette tackled Adrien to the floor and kissed him all over.

 **Heads up everybody, next week I'm going on vacation so I won't be uploading that week. Need to spend time with my family. I'll be checking in periodically though.**


	16. Emotions

**Thought you guys could use some fluffy goodness after the last story I did.**

Adrien had been taught to keep his emotions in check. To always stay calm and collected in public. To not do anything that could tarnish his father's image. As Adrien, he followed that rule to the max; but as Chat Noir, he was able to fully express himself. He could feel whatever he was feeling; anger, sadness, happiness, love. He could feel them all. But once Chat was away, the neutral wall returned. He still was able to release them occasionally with his friends at school, but he still had to hold back. He was sitting in class waiting for Nino to come back from lunch when a certain blonde girl came bounding in.  
"Adrikins! There you are! Have you had lunch yet? You should come eat lunch with me!"  
"Thanks Chloe, but, I'd rather be by myself right now."  
"Ugh, why?! There's this great cafe not far from here that I know you'll like!"  
"Some other time, ok? I'm just not in a good mood at the moment," he said with a down hearted tone.  
He had another argument with his father and things didn't end on good terms, hence why he was feeling down today. Nino knew some of it and Alya could tell he was feeling bad. Marinette picked up on it immediately and promised herself to bring him some goodies from the bakery during lunch. Which explained why he was sitting alone in the classroom until Chloe found him.  
"Come on! You can't just sit here and be alone!"  
"Chloe," he said in a warning tone. "Not today."  
"Whatever's bothering you isn't worth sitting here. Let's go!"  
"Chloe, leave him alone," said a voice that was music to his ears.  
"Ugh! Butt out Marinette," she glared.  
"He said no, so leave him be."  
"I do whatever I please, now get lost!"  
"Chloe! Back off! Now," said an angry Adrien.  
All the bickering was making him feel worse than he already was and he was beyond done with it. Chloe looked shocked and maybe hurt, but she quickly left them together. Adrien placed his head in his hands and let out a groan. He knew this would come back to bite him later, but right now he needed to calm down. He almost forgot there was another person there with him till he heard a throat being cleared.  
"Are you ok," she asked quietly.  
"No, I'm not."  
Marinette debated whether or not to sit next to him or leave him alone. But then she remembered that Adrien has always been alone so she sat next to him. She didn't say anything but she did place her bag of treats on the desk.  
"I thought you might be hungry so I grabbed a few things from the bakery. I have croissants, cheese bread, a couple of éclair's, and cookies."  
She pulled out the treats as she named them and Adrien gladly took a croissant. One bite and he instantly relaxed. He sighed in content and savored the flavor. There was something about her family's pastries that hit the spot and for the first time today, he smiled genuinely.  
"There it is," she smiled sweetly.  
"What?"  
"Your smile. I was missing it today."  
"Well, it didn't take much to bring it back did it," he smirked.  
Marinette's face turned red.  
"Good food can do that," she said shyly.  
"It wasn't just the food, Mari." He leaned over and pecked her cheek. "Thanks for cheering me up."  
Marinette's face turned fifty shades of red in a span a seconds while Adrien chewed happily on his pastries.


	17. Kitty Surprise

Marinette was standing in her boyfriend's kitchen by the table with a bright green box on it and her smartphone turned to her.

"Hi everyone, I am standing here in my boyfriend, Adrien's kitchen and I have a huge surprise for him. For those of you who don't know, Adrien loves cats; it's crazy cat lady level of obsession. And, he used to have a black cat named Plagg; don't ask, weird name I know. He loved that cat so much despite him being a devil at times, but he had a lot of good memories and unfortunately Adrien had to give Plagg up for reasons I can't really get into right now." Reasons as he had to give up his Miraculous for the next Chosen one. "So, he's been grieving the loss and I figured now would be a good time to bring in a new cat. I have looked at all kinds of shelters and adoption sites to find the perfect black cat and I did." She turned the camera to the green box and opened it to reveal a black kitten with green eyes. "I was extremely lucky to find a solid black cat with green eyes, just like Plagg. So, Adrien will be home from classes soon and I can't wait!"

An hour later, Marinette got a message that Adrien was on his way home and she told him she was already at his place. She heard him opening the door and quickly got her smartphone camera ready.

"Mari! I'm home," he called from the living room.

"I'm in the kitchen," she yelled back.

Adrien walked into the kitchen and noticed the box and his girlfriend with her phone.

"What's going on?"

"I have a surprise for you."

"Why are you filming it?"

"To see your reaction."

Adrien shook his head and opened the box. When he saw what was in it, he stopped. Marinette giggled a little. Adrien jerked his head toward her, eyes wide in surprise.

"You...you..."

"I picked him up today."

"How...where?"

"Found a nice lady thirty miles away who had a cat just give birth and she heard of my search and called me. Had to wait till they were weaned before I could get him."

"So he's mine," he asked looking back at the kitten.

"He's yours."

Adrien lost it. He covered his mouth with one hand and used the other to grab a chair to steady himself. The noises he made were a mixture of sobs and laughter.

"Oh, don't cry! You're gonna make me cry!"

Marinette was trying to keep it together but it was hard seeing her blonde goofy boyfriend break down like he did at the sight of the kitten. A kitten that looked so much like Plagg. She knew he missed the kwami and felt he could use a new friend to help fill the void.

"Can-can I h-hold it?"

"Of course silly!"

Adrien wasted no time in picking up the black ball of fur. He held it to his chest and tried to keep himself together.

"Did you see his collar," Marinette asked.

Adrien moved the kitten away from his chest to see a bright green collar and something else.

"You gave him a bell?!"

"Thought you'd like that."

Adrien, while still crying and still holding the kitten, hugged his girlfriend hard.

"Th-thank you s-so m-much! I love him!"

"You're welcome, Kitty. I'm glad you do." He let go but stayed close by. "What shall we name him?"

"I don't know *sniff*, but maybe just Noir. There's only one Plagg and," Adrien choked out.

"That's sounds like a great name," smiled Marinette. "Are you happy?"

"Very, very much so," Adrien smiled. "I love you Mari!"

"I love you, too Adrien."

The two of them embraced again after Marinette put her phone down while Adrien continued to hold the kitten.

 **Thought this would be a cute one. And you could see Mari doing this for Adrien whenever Plagg has to move on to a new Chosen.**


	18. Grease Monkey

Adrien was on his way to the bakery when he noticed Tom working on the delivery truck in the alleyway.

"Mr. Dupain?"

Adrien's voice surprised the man and he bumped his head, letting out a hiss of pain.

"Oh, are you ok?"

"Adrien? Is that you?" Tom, covered in grease and dirt, turned to see Adrien standing before him. "Adrien, my boy! Good to see you! You're just in time!"

"In time for?"

"I could really use your help. My hands can't fit into these tight spaces and your hands are the perfect size. I normally ask Marinette but she's out with her mother and she doesn't like getting grease under her nails."

Adrien smiled. A chance to get to know Marinette's dad and learn a skill, what a great day.

"Sure! I'd love to help, Mr. Dupain!"

"Just Tom, my boy. Anyway, before you do; throw these on." Tom tossed Adrien a pair of blue coveralls and red bandana. "Hate to see your designer clothes and hair get all messed up," said Tom with a smile.

Adrien quickly put the coveralls on and tied the red bandana over his hair.

"So, what do we do first?"

"First, I need you to lay down here, take this wrench and tighten this bolt here."

Adrien did as he was told. He could see why Tom needed him; the space was tight and Tom's big hands would never had fit.

"Anymore that needs tightening while I'm here?"

"Yes, just check for any lose ones."

While Adrien did that, Tom took a rag and wiped his face. He was glad the boy came by when he did. He knew Adrien's relationship with his father wasn't a good one and he felt the need to give the boy plenty of father-son bonding moments and what better way than to work on cars together.

"Ok, I checked them all and tightened a few up. What's next?"

"Do you see a black hose?"

"Yeah."

"There's a crack in it, I bought some sealant until we can get a proper replacement. Think you can patch it up for me?"

"Sure, no problem."

Adrien searched the hose for the crack. It was a bit greasy but he didn't care. As a model, he was forced to be clean and pretty so any chance of him getting dirty he took it. After finding and sealing the crack, he scratched an itch on his cheek. He slid out from under the truck to see if there was anything else he could do. Tom looked at him and chuckled.

"What?"

"You got a bit of grease on your cheek, son. Now you're an official grease monkey."

"Huh?"

"It's what people who work on cars are called."

"Got any bananas then," Adrien smirked and began to make monkey noises.

Tom laughed and gave Adrien a rag. Adrien didn't wipe himself; he wanted to let this feeling of being grungy last longer.

"I need to check the fluids," said Tom. "Do you know how to do that?"

"No, not really."

"Then let me show you. We will start with the oil."

A few hours later, Marinette and her mother returned from their errands. Tom was in the kitchen making a snack when Sabine came in and greeted him.

"Did you finish with the truck?"

"Yes I did, thanks to my special helper."

"Who?"

Meanwhile, Marinette hurried to her bathroom and opened the door without realizing anyone might have been in there. She was greeted by the sight of Adrien in just his jeans and a messy flop of blond hair and grease marks on his hands and face. Both turned bright red and Marinette shrieked and profusely apologized while slamming the door.

"Oops," smirked Tom.

"What do you mean," asked Sabine.

"I may have forgotten to mention that Adrien is here."

Sabine smiled at her sneaky husband.

 **Who would want to see Adrien looking like a grease monkey now? I do!**


	19. Just Say It

He just kept running even though he had no idea where she was. It was dark save for the flashlight in his hand but even that wasn't enough. He had to find her; she was in trouble and he was the only one who could help her. It was a long shot, but he had to try.

"Marie! Marie! Where are you?!"

"Aiden! Help me!"

He turned to the left and ran toward the sound of her voice. She was scared and sounded like she was in pain.

"Marie!"

"Aiden! I'm over here!"

He shined his light to see his blue-black haired friend tied up. Cuts and bruises and torn clothes indicated she struggled and fought. Her blue eyes filled with tears of relief.

"Aiden! You're ok!"

"Am I ok, what about you?! Did it hurt you," Aiden cried frantically. He was a mess himself, with torn and dirty clothes and his blonde hair dirty as well. His green eyes looked over his friend.

"I thought it got you," she whimpered.

"It'll take more than that to stop me," he smiled confidently and then turned serious. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay? We're gonna make it."

Aiden began to undo her bonds, but it was proving difficult.

"Did it have to make these ropes so tight," Aiden complained. Then he pulled out a knife; he cut the ropes on her feet and then she saw it.

"Aiden, behind you!"

Aiden turned to see a huge figure coming at him with a club. He jumped back just as the club swung for his head. Aiden looked for something to defend himself against the monster but he tripped and the monster was on top of him and club raised. With no escape, Aiden braced himself for the blow.

"And cut!"

The lights went up to reveal Ivan holding a rubber club in old coveralls and a mask. Adrien relaxed and Ivan did as well.

"Nice job guys, take five and we'll pick it back up from here," said Nino.

"Nino, I still think we should still go with my original ending," said Alya.

"It's a horror movie! There are no happy endings," cried Nino.

"But we have to end it on a more positive note," she shot back.

Adrien chuckled and shook his head at his friend bickering. He got up and sat next to Marinette.

"You doing ok," she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. What about you? I'm sure those ropes aren't that comfortable."

"It's fine. Mylene made sure they were too tight," she said looking over at Mylene who was talking to Ivan. "I hope we do Alya's original ending."

"Me, too," said Adrien. "I think it would be nice to know that they make it out alive."

"Yeah, they always had the other's back. Be a shame to see it not lead to their survival."

"Exactly, they went through too much already to not see it through to the end."

"Right. I hope Aiden knows how much Marie likes him, she'd do anything to protect him," Marinette said with a blush to her face. She may have been referring to their characters but she was also talking about themselves.

"So would he," smiled Adrien. "I think Aiden feels the same way about Marie. He's just not sure how to say it."

"He should just say it. No sense in hiding it."

The two of them just looked at each other, not even realizing how close they were.

"Marinette, I..."

"Ok! Places people," shouted Nino. "Let's pick it up from where Aiden trips and is about to get clubbed."

Marinette motioned to Ivan and whispered in his ear. Ivan nodded and got back into position. He raised his club and Adrien got back on the floor with his arms raised.

"Ready! Aaaaaand, Action!"

Aiden braced for the impact but what he didn't expect was the figure to drop his club and fall down. He looked and saw Marie with her hands still tied holding a steal pipe.

"Are you crazy," yelled Aiden.

Adrien was surprised by the turn of events but like a good actor, went along with it. Nino was about to yell, "Cut," but Alya slapped her hand on his mouth and gave him a look that said, "you say 'Cut' and I will cut you." Nino nodded and let the camera roll.

"He was gonna kill you," yelled Marie back. "I couldn't sit back and watch that happen! You mean so much to me, Aiden! You always had my back so this time I was able to have yours!"

Aiden smiled and got up from the floor. He took his knife and cut the ropes off her wrists. Marie hissed in pain and rubbed them until Aiden decided to do that himself.

"Thanks for having my back. You-you mean a lot to me, too, Marie."

Aiden kissed her forehead and she blushed. She then hugged him and kissed his cheek and he also turned red.

"Not that this isn't romantic but do you think we can get out of here," Marie smirked.

"Absolutely."

Aiden placed an arm around her and they both went through the exit.

"Cut!"

It was Alya who yelled it this time who seemed pleased with the outcome.

"That was great! Loved it! Admit it, Nino! That was better!"

"Yeah, yeah. That's a wrap for today! I'll call you if we need to do any re-shoots!"

Once Marinette and Adrien were cleaned up, Adrien waited for Marinette to ask her something.

"Hey, Mari! You hungry?"

"Starved!"

"You want to have dinner with me?"

"Sure, sounds great!"

Adrien took her by the hand as they headed down the street. They stopped at a cafe.

"I'm so glad that's over," said Marinette sliding into the booth

"Yeah," said Adrien hesitantly, sliding in the seat in front of her.

He actually rather enjoyed it, especially doing scenes with Marinette. He wanted to spend more time with her but without the movie as an excuse. He figured he'd take Mari's advice and just out right say it. At least, until he gathered his courage.

"Adrien? You ok?"

"I'm fine," he smiled. He took her hand and kissed it. "I enjoyed working together and spending time with you, Mari."

"I enjoyed it, too," Mari smiled blushing.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out more? That's not movie related?"

"Are you trying to ask me out?"

"Yeah, I guess I am. Although, I was kinda hoping to count this as a date, unless you want it to be."

She knew he was a bit nervous so she decided to help ease it.

"I wouldn't mind. How about we have a formal date next Friday. Right now, let's just enjoy ourselves tonight."

"I'd love that," Adrien smiled. He decided to sit next to Mari and grabbed her hand. "Is this okay?"

"I was hoping you would," she smiled and leaned onto his shoulder.

Adrien smiled and placed his head on hers.

 **Ugh! I couldn't think of a good title; hope the one I picked is ok.**


	20. Feel

They were the perfect couple. The standard that most strived to achieve, but as they say, nobody is perfect. Stresses have the tendency to create cracks, rifts. Leaving them to fester makes them worse. Pressure builds till there's an explosion of anger and hurtful words. Lines are crossed and things said cannot be taken back. For their mutual benefit, they go their separate ways much to the dismay of those around them. They were a team, yin and yang. How could they break up like this? Despite their reassurances they were fine, the masks they wore to help hide the truth; both were suffering. Stubbornness and pride are a dangerous thing and they hold on to it even if it's hurting them. A year or two goes by and they see what their life is like without the other. It's incomplete, no longer does it feel the same as it was before they were together. They realized how much they relied on each other and while one was ready to come back, the other was too stubborn.

Adrien once again found himself in front of a familiar building. His footsteps always lead him here subconsciously. He would stand somewhat close to the door, far enough away so he wouldn't be accused of loitering but able to see who was coming and who was going. He'd get glimpses of her every now and again but she was always in a rush; that never changed. She was always running late for something. He smiled at the memories of hearing her dash around and he'd always have what she needed in hand before she had a chance to look for it. So how was she able to do it without him? This particular day was tough for him. Unruly students and harsh parents angry for their child's lack of discipline in the work that was somehow his fault. He needed comfort and his feet lead him to the place where he could find it. That is, if she was willing to offer it. The clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled. Soon, the rain came down; it wasn't light nor was it heavy. Just steady. Adrien didn't have his umbrella with him so he let the rain fall on him. It was its own comfort, to wash away the day. He didn't even hear the small gasp beside him.

"Adrien?"

He turned and saw her. Hair longer than last time he saw in twin braided pigtails. Arms carrying her bags and black umbrella but she was still the same freckled, blue-eyed beauty he had come to miss. She wore a simple black skirt with pink argyle tights and black flats. A pink and white shirt could be seen under a black cardigan.

"Hey Marinette," he smiled.

"What are you doing out here without an umbrella?"

"I forgot," he shrugged.

Marinette had a choice to make; let him stand out here to continue getting soaked in the rain or bring him in at least to get dry and warm and then send him on his way. Her kind heart wouldn't let her chose the first option.

"Well, come in so you won't catch cold."

Adrien smiled and followed her inside the apartment building she lived in. She struggled with her keys so he gently took them and opened her door for her. She blushed at the contact but tried to force those feelings down. Her apartment was simple, but so uniquely her. Gray couch with colorful pillows and glass coffee table with fashion magazines and a decent sized flat screen and her game system displayed on the entertainment unit. Pictures of artworks and friends and family were on the walls or on shelves. Marinette placed her bags on the kitchen table and ran to her bathroom to find towels for Adrien to dry off in. She even went into her studio to find extra clothes for him.

"There's towels in the bathroom for you to dry yourself off," she said coming back. "I also had some extra clothes that should fit you. I can put your wet clothes in my dryer."

"Thanks, Mari."

Adrien hurried to the bathroom, desperate for the moment of solitude he needed and what Marinette needed as well.

Marinette was panicking. She had done so well on forcing her old feelings for him down and one moment of seeing his face made them come bubbling back up. But she had to be strong, things were over between them. Hurtful words were spoken and no amount of time and sweet smiles from him were going to change that. At least, that was what she kept telling others and herself. She was going to crack, but if she made it clear to him that he had no chance, then she was safe. Meanwhile in the bathroom, Adrien tried very hard to keep himself in check. He missed her, oh wow did he miss her. Seeing her from a distance everyday and constantly thinking of her made it very difficult to function. He did the best he could, he had years of practice in school but when it came to her, it was terrible and tortuous. Everything within him screamed to grab her and kiss her. And he wanted to, so desperately but he knew one wrong move would send him back to the hell he sent them both to since that night. So, he would take it slow. Gently remind her what they had and what they still could be. He was surprised she had clothes for him. She said she had sent him all the clothes he had left at her place. They must have been design projects and he was glad she still used his measurements to make them since they fit like a glove. Even if they were simple pants and t-shirt, they were still amazingly well made. He left his wet clothes on the floor and used a towel on his hair. He came out feeling refreshed.

"I left my wet clothes on the floor," he called out.

"Ok, I'll put them in the dryer," she called back. She came from the kitchen. "I made some tea to help warm you up. There's a cup for you waiting next to the sugar. Feel free to have a seat on the couch."

She quickly left and he went to get his tea ready. He put three sugar cubes in and stirred it. It was sweet but not too sweet. The right blend; just like her. He thought about sitting down but if he was going to do what he planned to do, he should stand. She returned to fix her own cup.

"They should be ready in thirty minutes." Silence fell between them. It was stifling so Marinette broke it. "So why were you hanging around by my apartment building?"

"I was in the neighborhood," he said causally. In reality, he purposely went there to see her.

"I see. How are things?"

"Good. Most of the time."

"And those times?"

"Not bad, but could have been better." Things got quiet again. He looked around at her photos, seeing old and new faces. "Are you seeing anyone," he asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm not," she said quietly. "Are you?"

Was that a hopeful tone? He could work with that. Adrien smiled pleasantly.

"No, I am not."

"Oh, that's a shame," she said.

"And why is that," he asked putting his tea cup down and inching toward her.

"Guy like you doesn't stay single for long," she replied looking away.

"Maybe I'm waiting for someone."

"For someone?"

"Waiting for the right time. Right place." He was getting closer. He took her cup and put it down. "Right moment," he whispered.

Marinette was faltering. It was getting harder to resist. But she resolved to remain strong.

"Really; guess you'll have to keep waiting."

"I could, you know that better than anyone. But, there comes a point where things need to speed up a little."

"Adrien, I know what you're trying to do. I don't feel that way anymore," she said quietly and sadly.

"Really? So what would happen if I do this?" He took her hand and kissed, like he always did. "And this?" He interlocked the hand in his while placing his other hand on her cheek.

"Nothing," she said with a straight face.

Adrien then pulled her closer. His hands resting on her hips and sliding to her lower back. He bent his head and lips down to her ear.

"What about this? You feel anything?"

"N-no."

She was going to lose it. He knew it, she knew it but she was going to hold on. He chuckled at the thought of it.

"Your stubbornness still amazes me. But you and I both know the truth. It's only a matter of time."

"Keep trying," she challenged.

"Challenge accepted," he smirked.

Adrien began to kiss the edge of her ear and face while his hands rubbed circles on her hips. Marinette's breath hitched and she clenches her eyes and mouth shut.

"Anything?"

"No, not at all," she choked out.

"Please don't fight it, Mari. I'm done fighting."

"I can't," she cried.

"I know I can't take back what I said. It was stupid and childish on my part. I'm sorry."

"Adrien," she whispered. Her resolve was fading. "I don't..."

"You mean to tell me that you still don't feel the same for me as I do for you," he whispered in her ear. Adrien knew he shouldn't push her too much with teasing so now it was time for the sensitive approach. "I've missed you. So much."

She was barely hanging on now. She's ready to snap.

"I-I..."

Adrien moved his head to look into her eyes. He could see she was at her breaking point. If he wasn't careful, he could really lose her for good. He gently cupped her face and smiled sadly at her.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to push. I'll go check my clothes and be out of your hair."

He turned to leave. Marinette suddenly realized how stupid she was. If she stopped being stubborn, she wouldn't have lost those two years. She couldn't lose anymore.

"Adrien," she called out.

Adrien stopped but didn't turn. He was scared of what was going to happen next.

"Yes, Mari?"

Words failed her at this point, so actions were going to have to speak for her. She stepped forward, grabbed his shoulder to turn him toward her, grabbed his face and smashed his lips to hers. Adrien quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her fingers threaded his hair while his hands moved up and down her back. The two paused to regain their breath. Adrien was pleasantly surprised by this development and smiled brightly. Marinette tried to keep them in but her tears fell anyway. Adrien's smile fell at the sight and wiped them with his thumbs.

"It's alright, Princess."

"I'm-I'm s-sorry," she whimpered out.

"It's okay, Mari. We both acted like idiots but we can move passed this. I love you, Marinette."

"I love you, too Adrien," Marinette said smiling through her tears.

 **I was inspired! Enjoy the Angsty feels!**


	21. Adrien After the Dentist

Adrien's Wisdom teeth were coming in and if he wanted to keep his perfect smile, they needed to be removed. He was nervous about going under the knife since the easiest way to do it was to knock you out with anesthesia. Marinette volunteered to be there with him since his father and assistant were going to be gone the day of his surgery. It was scheduled for early morning and Marinette and Adrien were sitting in the dentist's waiting room. Adrien wouldn't stop fidgeting.

"Relax Kitty, everything's going to be okay," soothed Marinette.

"I can't help it! So many things could go wrong! I could have a reaction, my teeth are worse than they thought! They may take all my teeth out! And I'd have to wear false teeth! And..."

"Adrien, stop. Nothing like that will happen alright. You will be fine."

"How can you be so sure," he whined.

"I just am. Now, take deep breaths and relax. Once you're put under it will be over before you know it."

Adrien still wasn't sure but he trusted his Princess. Soon he was called in and follows the nurse while Marinette stayed put. Adrien looked at her in surprise.

"You aren't coming?"

"I need to stay here, you go on. I'll be right here when you're done."

The dental assistant lead Adrien to the room and got everything checked out. The dentist came in and greeted him and the assistant placed the anesthesia mask over his face. Adrien was out in no time. What seemed like minutes to Adrien was a few hours for Marinette. During that time, she designed a few outfits and tried to keep the kwami's entertained without being seen. A dental assistant came out and asked Marinette to follow her.

"How is he," she asked.

"He's fine, a little groggy but that is expected from the anesthesia. It should wear off in a few hours. Now, he has to keep gauze in his mouth until it stops bleeding. He should only eat cold soft foods and please be sure his stitches don't come out. We have a prescription for his pain medication here. Any questions?"

"No, I think I got it."

"Great, I'll take you to him."

The assistant showed Marinette the room where Adrien was. He was lying down in the chair looking off into space. When he noticed Marinette, he grinned and looked a bit sleepy.

"My Laaaady," he slurred.

"Hey Kitty, how are you feeling?"

"I feeeeel great! Your eyes are pretty!"

"He might be a little loopy for a while, just go with whatever he says," smiled the assistant.

Marinette helped Adrien to his feet and walked him out; more like she walked and he stomped.

"Am I floating?"

"No, you need to walk," said Marinette.

"It feels like I'm floating. Are we in space?"

"No, we aren't."

"Are we going to the space ship?"

"I need to get you to the car."

Marinette and Adrien walked up to the car and saw the Gorilla standing by.

"What's a gorilla doing here? Did he escape the zoo?! We should return him and then go into space."

The Gorilla quirked an eyebrow.

"He's a little loopy from the anesthesia. He'll be fine in a few hours," explained Marinette.

Once she and Adrien settled, they were driven to Adrien's house.

"Mari! My mouth hurts!"

"I know, you just got your wisdom teeth out."

"They took my teeth out?!"

"Not all of them, just a few. I got your pain pills and you can take them when we get home."

"And then we can go into space?"

"Sure, we can go to space."

"Yaaaaaaaaas!" Adrien got quiet for a bit. He looked at Marinette intently. "Hey, Mari! Do you know how much you look like Ladybug?"

Now this would normally cause alarm for the pig-tailed girl since Adrien's driver was in earshot; but thankfully, they had already revealed themselves to each other. And Marinette could use the excuse of Adrien being high on anesthesia to keep her identity safe.

"Really? I didn't realize," she feigned innocence.

"Yeah, you do! Hey, can you ask Ladybug if she'll go up to space with me?"

"I will see what I can do."

"Ugh, can I come out now?! Tikki's cookies are stifling me!"

Plagg floated up to get some breathing room from Marinette's purse. Adrien's eyes began to bug out.

"IT'S AN ALIEN," he shouted at Plagg.

"Adrien, calm down," cried Marinette.

"We're being invaded! By cat aliens!"

"Shhhhh, shhhh, no we aren't Adrien," soothed Marinette.

"Marinette? Is Adrien ok," asked Tikki poking her head out of the purse.

Adrien saw her and freaked out again.

"Another alien! We're being invaded by cat and bug aliens! Why do you have them?!" Then he gasped in realization. "Mari! You're an alien?!"

Marinette sighed at his antics; she hoped this would wear off soon.

"No Adrien, I'm not. Look, just calm down and relax ok. We don't want your stitches to come out."

"I haz stitches?"

Adrien began to put his fingers in his mouth. Marinette quickly grabbed his hand.

"No, don't touch them!"

"Why can't I touch dem?"

"Your fingers are dirty and we have to leave them alone."

"I haz stitches."

"Yes, you do."

Adrien went quiet for the rest of the trip and soon they were back at his house.

"Ooooooooh, who's house iz dis?"

"It's yours," said Marinette.

"Nu-uh!"

"Yes, Adrien, it's your house."

"But I thought I lived wit chu?"

"Well, you come over so often you might as well live there."

"I wanna live wit chu," Adrien whined.

"Maybe one day, Kitty," said Marinette blushing.

Marinette helped Adrien get settled in his room.

"Who's room we in?"

"This is your room."

"Whaaaaaa?!"

"Come on, Adrien. I got a milk shake for you to eat. I hope you're hungry."

After Adrien drank his milkshake and took his medicine, he fell asleep. Marinette stayed with him just to be sure he was alright.

"I hope he'll be in his right mind when he wakes up," sighed Marinette.

"Ya tellin' me! He kept tryin' to grab me," grimaced Plagg.

"That stuff really messed with him," said Tikki.

About an hour later, he was awake.

"Hey, Kitty," smiled Marinette.

"Hey Princess. Am I home already?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago. You were pretty out of it," Marinette giggled.

"Oh, please tell me I didn't say anything embarrassing," he groaned.

"Not really. Just talked about how much you wanted to go to space and take Ladybug with you."

"I did?"

"Yep. You even thought Plagg and Tikki were aliens."

"Not mention you tried to grab me," grumbled Plagg.

"Sorry about that," said Adrien. "What else did I say or do?"

"Nothing! That's all," said Marinette quickly.

"What about when Adrien said he wanted to live with you," smirked Tikki.

Both teens turned red.

"Did I really say that," questioned Adrien.

"Ummmm, yeah, you did," stammered Marinette.

"What did you say?"

"I said, maybe one day."

"I'd like that," Adrien smiled.

"I would, too," Marinette smiled back.

 **I have no other excuse to write this other than seeing Adrien look like an idiot**

 **I had my wisdom teeth taken out and my experience was that I was pretty coherent after I woke up. But I have seen people completely out of their minds after they wake up from surgeries.**

 **Hope you enjoyed my silliness**


	22. Which Are You?

Marinette had probably what she considers the worst week of her life. No matter how hard she tried, her school work wasn't up to standards, Chloé ran her mouth chipping away at Marinette's confidence which cultivated into being embarrassed in front of Adrien. And to top it all off, there was an Akuma everyday; hence why she did poorly on her homework. After getting embarrassed in front of Adrien, Marinette ran home from school at the end of the day. She rushed in, feeling the tears in her eyes. She almost made it to her room when someone stopped her.

"Marinette? Are you okay?"

It was her papa. Marinette would have normally tried to play it off and say she was fine but her face told him she wasn't. He smiled at her and she ran to him, with the tears finally being released. She felt his arms wrap around her.

"P-papa," she whimpered. "I'm so tired! Everyday this week has been horrible! Every time I overcome one obstacle, another one pops up! I can't handle it!"

Tom let his daughter cry a bit before wiping her tears and then lead her into the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and set them to boil.

"What are you doing," Marinette asked but Tom said nothing.

He went to the pantry and came back with potatoes and ground coffee and eggs from the refrigerator.

"What are you doing," asked Marinette again with some annoyance in her voice.

Tom still said nothing and the water began to bubble. The first pot was filled with potatoes, the second with the eggs and finally the third with ground coffee. Marinette was getting impatient.

"Can you please just tell me what you are doing," she demanded. But Tom still said nothing.

He finally took the pots off the stove, puts the potatoes and eggs on a plate and poured the coffee in a cup.

"What do you see," he finally asked.

"Potatoes, eggs and coffee," snapped Marinette. "I don't see how that's supposed to help me!"

"Look closer," her father said.

Marinette poked at the soft, hot potatoes. She peeled the shell from an egg, noticing how hard and white it was underneath. She then sipped the rich, dark coffee.

"I still don't understand."

"The potatoes, the eggs and the coffee all faced the same obstacle. They were all put into hot water," Tom explained. "The potatoes went in strong and hard, but the water made them soft and weak. The eggs were fragile, but the water made them harder. But the coffee wasn't changed by the water. Instead, the coffee changed the water and made it into something new." Tom then put an arm around Marinette and smiled. "Which are you? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? When challenges come along, will you weaken, turn hard inside or turn it into an opportunity to make something new?"

Marinette let her father's words sink in and with a smile, took the coffee cup and sipped it.

 **Saw law a video on Favebook of this life lesson and I knew it would be perfect for Mari and her dad. Enjoy it!**


	23. Where They Come From

Despite her age and level of maturity, there were just certain topics Marinette found particularly embarrassed to talk about; Adrien included. And even though they've both experienced certain things after getting married and have two precious children and Marinette hoping for a third later on, it was still hard to talk about. And when you have two equally curious kids, it's bound to happen. When Marinette was first pregnant with Emma, and Hugo was just three, he blatantly asked the dreaded question.  
"Mama? Where do babies come from?"  
Marinette's cheeks turned red and nearly dropped the plate she was washing. Her mother warned her that children were curious and rather blunt at times. Her experience with Manon should have been clear indication. So, with as much grace and poise as she could muster, and seeing her wonderful husband walk into the kitchen, she quickly deflected.  
"Honey, Hugo has a question for you!"  
Marinette ran away faster than Adrien could realize what had happened. He looked down at his black haired green eyed son and smiled.  
"What's your question, buddy?"  
"Where do babies come from," he asked with a straight face.  
Adrien's face also turned red and floundered a bit.  
"Uh, well, uh! Bugaboo? A little help here!"  
The two of them bantered a bit in a blushing, stuttering mess while Hugo just looked on. The two settled that when Hugo was older, they would explain it to him. A few years later, Emma, who was now three, and Hugo, six, were with their mother as she and their Aunt Alya were talking. Alya was expecting her third child with Nino despite having a full house with the first two boys they had.  
"I seriously hope it's a girl," sighed Alya. "I can't take all the testosterone!"  
"But I'm sure you'd love it even if it is a boy," smiled Marinette.  
Hugo was off playing with his cousins while Emma stuck close to her mother. She eyed her Aunt curiously and her growing belly. So being the naturally born curious child she is, she asked a question.  
"Auntie Aly, why are you fat?"  
"Emma! That's a rude thing to say," chided Marinette.  
Alya just laughed.  
"Relax, Mari. I'm not offended, she's just curious. And I admit, I have put on more weight with this one." Alya rubbed her belly and looked over at Emma. "The reason I'm big is because I have a baby in my belly," she smiled at the blonde haired blue eyed girl.  
"You do?! Did you eat it?!"  
Alya laughed while Marinette whined in embarrassment.  
"No, but I can see why you'd think that little one. It's growing inside of me. You and Hugo did the same thing in your mommy's tummy," she winked.  
Emma looked at her mother in surprise. Marinette just smiled but she knew she'd get the third degree later. Later that night, Adrien was tucking his Little Princess in when she asked him a question.  
"Papa? Did I really grow inside mama's tummy?"  
"Yes you did," he chuckled.  
"How did I get in there?"  
Adrien jerked and turned red.  
"Well, uh," he stammered.  
"Papa? Are you okay?"  
"Yep! Papa's purrfectly fine!"  
Adrien managed to calm down a bit and told her the same thing he told Hugo. He would explain it when she was older. Now, Hugo was ten and Emma was seven and they were about to get some exciting news. Both Marinette and Adrien smiled at them.  
"Kids, we have some big news for you," beamed Marinette.  
"You're going to have a new brother or sister," said Adrien with a smile.  
Emma was excited and Hugo expressed his happiness in a more subdued way. Emma squealed and hugged her parents when she realized something.  
"You never did explain how a baby gets inside mama's tummy, papa," asked Emma.  
"Oh, well, I," stumbled Adrien.  
Hugo just rolled his eyes.  
"Oh for crying out loud! Just admit you had relations and that's how it happened," he said exasperated.  
"Hugo," both parents cried out.  
"Where did you hear about that," asked Adrien sternly.  
"From Uncle Nino and Aunt Alya. Seriously every time I or Emma asked, you guys clam up and act all embarrassed about it."  
"How much details did they tell you," asked a worried Marinette.  
"Not a lot. Just that when you love someone and when you come together babies can be made. I think Uncle Nino was going to mention the mechanics but Aunt Alya shut him up and said you two should tell me that."  
Adrien and Marinette sighed in relief. Hopefully when the time was right and they could stop being embarrassed about it, they would share that much with their kids. It was important that they understood the process but only when they were old enough and mature enough to hear it.  
"Your mother and I will work on that. In the meantime, I believe your aunt and uncle have the right idea and we will explain everything in full detail when the time comes," said Adrien.  
"We want you to come to us with any questions you might have about life and we will do our best to answer them. No matter how embarrassing it is," smiled Marinette.  
"So, who wants to visit grand-mère and grand-père and tell them the news," asked Adrien.

 **piku-chan gave me this idea**


	24. Pawsitively Heroic

Ladybug was just about to finish her part of patrol when she heard whimpers from an alleyway below. She dropped down and listened and followed the sounds. Ladybug peaked around some boxes and gasped when she saw a dog and a few puppies. The mother dog was obviously a stray for she had no collar. Ladybug felt a bit unprepared; she didn't have a leash or means to carry the puppies and they probably were hungry. She pulled out her yo-yo and opened it up. She located a pet store nearby and made a mad dash for it. She asked the managers if they would be willing to donate a leash, a carrier and some food for the mother dog and puppies. They were more than willing to help their hero Ladybug rescue some animals. The employees asked if she needed any help but she said she was okay. She made it back to the alley and armed with the leash and a cup of food, Ladybug blew kisses and whistles at the mother dog.

"Hey mama, it's okay. I got some food for you."

The dog just looked at Ladybug, unsure if Ladybug was a threat or not. Ladybug knew she should have taken the offer of help from one of the pet store employees but they were closing and she didn't want to keep them. She pulled her yo-yo out and called her cat partner.

"Hello, my Lady. What are you still doing out? I thought you'd be finished."

"Well, I need your help for a rescue."

"Really? Who needs it?"

"I found a mother dog and her babies in an alley. I need your help coaxing the mother out and getting her babies into a crate. And then get them to a shelter."

"Okay, I have your location. See you in a bit Bugaboo."

While Chat made his way to his Lady, Ladybug kept offering food to the mother. Chat soon arrived and then dropped down and walked slowly to them.

"Evening Ladybug, how's mama doing?"

"I think she's a bit scared still."

"You keep distracting her, I'll take the carrier."

Chat took the pet carrier while Ladybug approached the dogs.

"Hey girl, it's okay. Are you hungry? I got some food."

Ladybug got close enough to let the dog sniff the small bowl of dog food and soon the dog was eating.

"That's a good girl. My goodness you look so skinny."

"Probably giving everything to feed her pups. How many do you see?"

"I see five, but once I get her to move there might be more."

Ladybug offered her hand to be sniffed and when it appeared the dog wasn't going to bite it, Ladybug began to pet her.

"What do we call her," asked Chat.

"I like Lucy."

"So do I," Chat smiled.

Ladybug got the leash on Lucy and coaxed her away from her makeshift bed so Chat could put the puppies into the carrier.

"Okay, let's see who we have here...it's a boy! Let's call you Dodger." He put two more puppies in with Dodger and grabbed another puppy. "We have a girl; you get to be Coco."

Chat placed five puppies into the carrier. He showed the puppies to Lucy so she'd know they were okay.

"There's an animal shelter a few blocks away. We should take them there and get them checked out," said Ladybug.

"Lead the way my Lady."

Chat followed Ladybug who walked Lucy to the shelter. When the workers saw the sight they happily took in the family. The workers thanked the heroes and asked them to stop by again soon. The two heroes found a quiet spot to detransform.

"You two did a good thing," beamed Tikki.

"While I normally keep clear of dogs; I guess helping them was the right thing," grumbled Plagg.

"I knew you were such a softie," snickered Adrien.

"Oh shut up and get me my cheese!"

"I hope they find good homes for them," said Marinette.

"I'm sure they will," smiled Adrien. "Can I walk you home Princess?"

"Absolutely," she said taking his hand.

The next morning, Marinette's class took a field trip to the same shelter she and Chat took Lucy and the puppies to. They were there for a volunteer service project. The head of the shelter greeted them.

"Good morning students! My name is Henrietta and I run the shelter and vet clinic. Today, some of you will be assisting with the kennels while others can help here in the office or the front desk. I have some assignments for you already. Chloé, Sabrina and Nathanael, you will be here at the front desk with Cole. Ivan, Mylene, Juleka and Max, you will be with Terrance and Emile in the office. Kim, Alix and Rose, you get to help Jean with her door to door activity. And last group, Adrien, Alya, Nino and Marinette have kennel duty with me. You all have your assignments, meet you back here for lunch."

Kennel duty meant getting the dogs fresh water and refilling their food bowls and giving affection. Most of the dogs were friendly while some were more skittish. Nino and Adrien volunteered to handle the skittish ones together. Marinette moved on to her next kennel when she came across Lucy and her puppies. A soft smile formed on her face as she saw the family. Lucy was looking much better than the last time she saw her and her puppies were being their playful selves. Henrietta stood next to Marinette with a smile on her face.

"They were brought in last night. Poor girl was so hungry that she inhaled the food we gave her. It was a good thing Ladybug and Chat Noir found them."

"They did," asked Marinette with fake awe.

"Yep, they named her Lucy. Whether one wears a mask or not saving an animal is a heroic thing to do."

Henrietta walked away leaving Marinette to her spot. She opened the door of the kennel and that alerted Lucy. Marinette wasn't sure if the dog would recognize her without her costume but that didn't matter, she saved them and that was good enough for her.

"Hey Lucy, hey sweet girl," Marinette cooed and held her hand out to be sniffed.

Lucy's nose inched toward the hand and soon her tail began to wag. Lucy surged ahead and began to lick Marinette's face. The noirette giggled at the tickling sensation and the affection the dog was giving. Henrietta came back along with Nino, Alya and Adrien to see what was happening.

"Well I'll be. I've never seen her react that way," the woman commented.

"It's like the dog knows her," stated Alya.

"But, when did Mari see this dog before," asked Nino.

Adrien just smiled at the scene. He waited for the others to leave as he made his way inside the kennel.

"Hey girl," Adrien cooed. "You're looking better. And look, there's Coco and here's my boy Dodger," beamed Adrien as he picked up the puppy.

"I'm glad we were able to help them," smiled Marinette.

"Yeah, it was pawsitively heroic," beamed Adrien.

He laughed while Marinette glared at him for ruining the moment with a pun. But when he wasn't looking, she let a small smile form as she pet Lucy.

 **This is what happens when you watch too many dog rescue videos. This was originally a reveal story but I made it a post-reveal. Hope you enjoyed!**


	25. Thanksgiving

**Please excuse this self-indulgent fluff piece.**

It was late November and the air was chilly in Paris. Adrien had just finished an outdoor photoshoot that was autumn themed. He wanted to walk home to enjoy the weather a little more and see the colors of the trees. He saw families walking around with smiles on their faces; he wanted to smile like that but given how his father treated him, it was hard. He wanted to have his family back or at the very least, experience what it was like. His phone chimed with an alert. It was a message from Nathalie saying he needed to get home soon and complete his studies. He checked his calendar, Chinese. He also saw how close it was to this years Thanksgiving. He heard about the holiday when he was Googling American holidays for an assignment once. He liked the idea of a day where families get together to have a meal and talk about what they were most thankful for and enjoy activities like American football in the yard, watching said sport on TV or the big parade in New York or really just hanging out and enjoying being together like a family should. If only he could experience it. He made it back home and finished his work and soon was just lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What's with the moping," said a scratchy voice.

Adrien knew it was his kwami Plagg.

"Just thinking."

"About Ladybug?"

"Surprisingly no. It's almost Thanksgiving in America."

"Oh yeah, I remember you looking that up once. A feast of eating turkey and stuffing with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and whatever along with pumpkin pie. That's not my kind of feast; now a table full of Camembert, that's a feast worth celebrating."

"I happen to like the sound of turkey and all the fixings," chided Adrien. He'd also like the sound of being with a family, too. "I wish I could have something like that," he whispered out.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and Adrien felt the room shake.

"Plagg! Is there an Akuma?!"

"I don't think so kid!"

Soon, flashes of light filled the room and something swirled around in the air. Then it appeared, a portal of some kind and wind picked up and the light became brighter that Adrien had to shield his eyes. He barely heard someone stumble in. Soon, the light faded and the wind died down. Adrien was almost too scared to look when he heard a female voice.

"Man, you would think I'd get used to that."

Adrien looked to see a woman wearing skinny jeans, brown boots, cream colored shirt and dark blue, red and white sweater shawl. She had brown hair and green squared glasses.

"Um, bonjour," he called out nevously. "Qui es-tu?"

"Huh? Oh, did I get the French dub? Let me just switch that to English and make things easy for us."

The woman pulled out a remote, pointed it at Adrien and pushed some buttons.

"What did you just do," Adrien asked in perfect English.

"I changed your dub to English. This thing always goes to a shows default language when I first visit it."

"What?! What is going on?! And how can I speak English so well?!"

"Relax Adrien."

"How do you know my name?!"

"I can explain, I think. Long story short, I have this remote that allows me to jump into different shows and movies. It works like a TV remote really. You are a cartoon character in the world I am from. I know that you're a superhero named Chat Noir and you have a Kwami named Plagg."

Adrien was shocked by how much this lady knew.

"Is this an Akuma attack? Did Hawkmoth send you?"

"I can assure you that I am not an Akuma. And I wasn't sent by Hawkmoth. I can prove it to you. You wanted to experience Thanksgiving right?"

"Yes," nodded Adrien.

"Well, how would you like to have it with me and my family? And you better decide quick because, I need to help my mother prepare."

Adrien thought about it; sure it seemed strange that this woman shows up and offered to have him over. He looked over at Plagg and he seemed imapassive.

"Can I bring Plagg?"

"Sure, as long as he behaves himself. I have a dog who'd just love to play with him," the woman sneered.

Plagg gulped and hid in Adrien's shirt.

"Okay, I'd like to join you. I never caught your name."

"It's Amy. Pleasure to meet you Adrien. And to you Plagg."

"You better have some cheese for me!"

"Relax, I made sure to get you some. Now, we better get going. There's a lot to do still and I'm supposed to help. You ready?"

Adrien nodded as Amy activated the remote again and the same portal opened. Amy grabbed his hand and raced forward.

It was over in a blink and he was standing outside a small home in big front yard with an oak tree off to the side.

"This is your home?"

"My childhood home. I don't live here anymore but I try to visit when I can. Now don't worry about you being a cartoon character, you aren't the first nor the last character I've brought here."

"They already know about your remote?"

"Yeah, but not many other people. Can you imagine what the wrong person could do with something like this?"

Adrien didn't want to think about it. Even someone like Hawkmoth could cause some serious issues if he had a remote like that. The two went inside through the front door that had a simple Thanksgiving wreath of the door. Once inside, Amy took his coat and hung it in the hall closet.

"Hey mom! I'm back!"

Amy walked into the kitchen with Adrien following behind. He saw a woman standing in front of the stove.

"Oh, good. I need your help in getting the vegetable plate together."

"Okay. Oh, mom, this here is Adrien. The one I told you about. Adrien, this is my mother, Janet."

Amy's mom turned and saw the blonde teenager. She looked like an older version of Amy. The older woman smiled.

"Welcome to our home, Adrien."

"Thank you ma'am. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, if you could help Amy's husband get the table from outside in and here, take this rag and wipe it down before you bring it in," Janet said handing him a rag.

The rest of the morning was spent getting the house ready for guests. Adrien was introduced to Amy's husband, Kevin, Dan, her father and Lori, her sister. Even the dog he heard about made an appearance. Said dog was very excited to meet a new friend and she couldn't get enough of Adrien.

"Just be firm with her if she gets to be too much," Amy said. "Daisy, sit!"

Daisy the dog obeyed the command and Amy began to pet her along with Adrien.

"She's very sweet," commented Adrien.

"Yeah she is. If she wasn't so hyper with new people we'd leave her out but we have to put her in her cage while everyone is here."

"Amy, put Daisy away, and go help Aunt Barbie and Uncle Chuck," called her mother.

"Come on, we gotta help bring stuff in."

They put Daisy away and helped Amy's aunt bring dishes of food. More relatives shows up including Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Billy, her cousins Cindy and her two boys, Blake and Riley. Amy's older brother, Mike and his wife, Becca and kids, Laila and Nate, arrived as well. Another cousin arrived named Chad with his wife Megan and baby daughter Kate. Blake and Riley instantly clicked with Adrien and were soon playing football outside with Amy's brother and his son along with Chad. Adrien was having the time of his life. He never had this much fun with this many people. No one was worried about their money or their social status or anything he heard those his father associated with talked about. They were all there as a family to enjoy time together and soon, food. Plagg took to hiding in the coat closet since it was dark and somewhat quiet. But then, Amy found him.

"Plagg, I don't think this is the best place for you to hide."

"Why? I like it in here."

"Too many people are pulling out their coats and you might get caught up and go home with the wrong person. I know a better spot for you," Amy said as she took the small cat to her younger sisters room. She opened a small cabinet filled with plush toys.

"Hide here with my sister's plushies. Stay far enough to the back and you'll be fine. The kids prefer the playroom so less chance of you being disturbed here. Oh, I couldn't get any Camembert but, here's some Brie, cheddar and Gouda."

Plagg accepted the cheese and relaxed within the cabinet. Soon it was time to eat and everyone gathered around the table in the kitchen. Adrien could see the nicely decorated table with a wire framed pumpkin and other Fall themed trinkets. There were forks, spoons and knives on the table but the plates sat on the kitchen island which was covered with all kinds of dishes. His mouth watered at the site.

"Gather round for the blessing," called Janet.

Everyone circled around the table and grasped hands. Adrien stood next to Amy to her right while her husband stood to her left. Adrien was next to Amy's brother, who gave the blessing for the meal. He thanked the Lord for the hands that prepared it, for the friends and family gathered around and for many more blessings to come. When it was done, everyone served themselves turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, corn casserole, sweet mashed potatoes with marshmallows on top, cranberries and dinner rolls. Most of the kids sat at the kitchen table while everyone else sat at tables set up in the living room. Amy and Adrien sat in the living room with other family members.

"How do you like it Adrien," asked Aunt Mary Ann.

"Oh, it's delicious," he cried. "It's been a while since I've eaten a meal like this!"

"Why's that," asked Kevin.

Adrien looked at Amy for help. Surely she knew what kind of life he had in the show. Amy smiled and leaned in.

"Do you want me to answer for you," she whispered. He nodded. "Adrien here is on a strict diet. He lives with his dad who is a health nut, to put it simply. But I'm sure days like these are for his indulgence. He finds its embarrassing to talk about."

And the subject was never brought up again. Adrien was encouraged to go for seconds because he wouldn't get any more once it was gone, so he did.

Amy's family asked him questions about himself and he answered them to the best of his ability. It felt nice when people took an interest in him that wasn't for his looks or modeling career.

Now it was time for desert. Janet made pumpkin and apple pie. Becca brought a coconut cream pie. There was a pecan pie from Aunt Mary Ann and chocolate cream pie from Aunt Barbie. Adrien tried them all.

"How do they compare to Marinette's family's bakery," asked Amy with her pumpkin pie.

"I'll always enjoy Marinette's family's food. But this is certainly good in its own right. I feel satisfied."

"That's the thing about Southern home cooking," smiled Amy. "It comforts you deep down inside."

Things settled down and everyone sat around and talked. Adrien just surveyed the scene and felt really relaxed. It felt good being around a family that was so warm and inviting. Amy's Aunts and some female cousins began to talk about their Black Friday shopping. He figured it was a big day for those who liked to shop; it sounded like something Chloé would love.

"Do you do Black Friday," Adrien asked Amy.

"Not really. It gets pretty crazy with the crowds and everyone grabbing stuff. And you can get better deals closer to Christmas anyway."

"Hey, Adrien! Do you wanna come play outside," asked Blake.

"Yeah sure!"

While the boys played, Amy sat and watched on the stone steps from the small porch. A little girl with brown hair and glasses came up to her.

"Hi Auntie Amy!"

"Hey Ladybug! How's my girl doing?!"

Amy hugged her niece Laila tight and ended up being dragged out to play with everyone else. Adrien heard Amy call out Ladybug and he instinctively turned to look. He smiled at the nickname for the little girl. He wished his Lady was here to enjoy this with him.

"Hey Adrien! Catch," yelled Blake throwing the football.

Thankfully Adrien caught the ball. Soon it was time for everyone to head out. Amy's family gave Adrien either a hug or hand shake and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. He'd never felt so much love and warmth before and he hated the fact he'd have to leave it soon.

"Adrien, do you want to stay and watch a movie with us," asked Janet.

Adrien's eyes went wide; they still wanted him to stick around? He smiled big and nodded.

"I think that's a yes," laughed Lori.

Settling on a movie, Janet sat in the brown recliner while Lori and Amy took the couch and Adrien sat in the big chair. It was really comfy and the blanket that was tossed to him made it even more comfortable. Daisy, released from her crate, had made several attempts to lay on him but either Amy or Janet stopped her. Adrien decided to let the dog settle on top of him and would pet her head and even let her lick his face. He knew Plagg would complain later but he didn't care. After the movie ended, Amy stood up.

"Adrien, I'd best get you back."

"Yeah, you're right," he said trying to get up but really didn't want to.

"Come on, big boy," laughed Amy as she pulled him up.

Adrien said good bye to everyone while Amy went and got Plagg.

"Hey Plagg, time to head back."

"Alright. Hey, thanks for giving my kid a good day. He doesn't get a lot of them."

"I know all too well. Hopefully, I can stop in another day."

Back in the living room.

"It was so nice to meet you Adrien," smiled Janet.

"Thank you for having me here in your home," he smiled back.

"Hope you can come back again," asked Lori.

"I'd like that."

Kevin walked in along with Amy.

"You leaving?"

"Yeah, I need to take him home," said Amy.

Dan walked in.

"Bye Dan, it was nice to meet you," said Adrien.

"Oh, yeah. See you later," he said.

"Bye Kevin," Adrien said.

"See you later."

"Ready," asked Amy.

Amy and Adrien went outside and opened the portal.

"Thank you again for this," said Adrien.

"My pleasure. Now you better go. We'll be in touch."

With one last hug, Adrien took Plagg and ran off into the portal. When he finally reappeared into his room, he could certainly tell how much colder it felt than at Amy's home. He sighed sadly and sat on his bed.

"Hey Kid, you okay," asked Plagg.

"Yeah, it just sucks to be back here."

Then his phone beeped. It was a text from an unknown number.

"Hey Adrien, it's Amy! Tomorrow my mom, sister and I are going to the movies. They wanted to know if you wanted to come? Oh, you should invite Marinette, Nino and Alya. And don't worry, I can cover your tickets and candy. I'll let you know what time soon. Just text me if you would like to come and if the others can come."

Adrien felt really excited at the prospect and even more excited that his friends get to share it with him.

 **Wanted to see how something like this would be received. I have no doubt this might be one of the few if not the only Thanksgiving piece of Miraculous fanfiction. Yeah, Thanksgiving is an American holiday and it would make sense to not write a piece with this holiday when the show is based in Paris, France. But I'm all about being different and writing things that haven't been done and I wanted to do this!**

 **And believe it or not, the people here are real. I'm using my real family for this. I love this holiday and it's not about the food (but let's be honest; you can't go wrong with good home cooked Thanksgiving dinner); I love the opportunity to see my family every chance I get since I no longer live close to them. This would be a typical gathering for my family; granted it might be different other years but this is generally how it would be and Adrien deserves to know what a family is supposed to be like and I am happy to provide that. Yeah, I'm using a deus ex machina type device but oh well, it helps explain things.**

 **Thank you for putting up with this and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving to those who live in the US and for those of you who haven't experienced this holiday, I recommend you do so if you get the opportunity.**


	26. Adrien Does Reddit 5050 Challenge

_Adrien is at his computer with a camera recording his face._

Hey everyone, Adrien here. I'm about to do the Reddit 50/50 Challenge. *sigh* This was a challenge that my friend Kim set forth to me saying that I am "too pure" for this world and need to "toughen up" and I don't know, some stupid crap about my innocence. So, I have a list of things here for me to look through and my "eye bleach" as my friend Nino referred to, to help me shake off the horrible, down right disturbing ones I may have to subject myself to. Oh boy. And I will censor anything that is not considered for safe viewing. Because, I don't want to get flagged for this. YouTube's been pretty fickle lately. So here we go!

First one is either, paramedic monkeys or something with a pregnant woman. _Clicks link_ Oh, it's the monkeys! Haha, that's hilarious! They forgot their patient! Oh, that's adorable. Okay, off to a good start. Next one, Mexican drug cartel beheading?! Or a volcano rabbit. Alright. _Clicks link_ So that's what a volcano rabbit looks like. He's cute and fluffy! I love it! Oh man, I hope this trend will continue. On to the next! Baby seal clubbing. _Feels offended_ That sounds horrible! Why would you want to club a baby seal?! What kind of monster are you?! But, I could get adult Seal clubbing. I don't understand what that means but okay. _Clicks link_ Okay, it's just a man singing in a club. Is that who this is? His name is Seal? _Googles Seal_ Oh, so it's an actual singer. Okay, alright. I'm okay with it. Now we have, hairy prolapsed anus; ew. Or oddly shaped kiwi fruit. _Clicks link_ What?! Is that a kiwi?! That's a kiwi?! I get the feeling that between this and the other one, there is no difference whatsoever! At least I am looking at a fruit but still! Good grief.

So far so good, I haven't had to use my eye bleach once and I aim to keep up the streak. Adorable kitten likes his bow tie?! Oh, please let me get this one! Man trips on railroad...train runs him over. Oh gawd no, please let it be the kitten! _Closes eyes and clicks link then opens them_ Oh! It's the kitty! Oh, I got the kitty thank the Lord above! That is the cutest kitten I have ever seen! Look at his bow tie! Oh, I love it! I don't want any bad ones! Please don't let me get bad ones! Here we have world's first flying ostrich is dead or UK couple on fire on gas-tanker?! _Looks at camera with horrified expression and clicks link_ Oh, I'm...not quite sure...what I'm looking at. Did, did they? Did someone taxidermy an ostrich and made it into a drone? I have to ask why but I'm sure there's no logical answer for it other than why not. People are just weird like that.

Hot Overwatch, awesome game, Mercy cosplay. I like Mercy, she's a fave of mine. Or penis caught in bike chain?! Ah, it hurts just thinking about it! What are you doing that would lead to having it out and being around a bike chain?! Just why?! Please let it be Mercy, please let it be Mercy! _Clicks link_ Oh thank gawd it's Mercy! And it's her Halloween look! That's an awesome cosplay! Hmmm, I think I'd make a great male version. Maybe I can get Mari to design and make it. Next one, a baby playing with his father, awwww. Or a baby with harlequin icthyosis. What is that? I don't even know what that is. _Clicks link._ _Eyes are blown wide in horror and covers his mouth with his hands to muffle his screams_ Ah! No! That poor baby! Oh no! Oh gawd! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Eye bleach! I need the eye bleach! _Pulls up slide show of cats_ Awwww, look at the kitties! They're so cute!

So, there goes that streak of not using the eye bleach. Yay. But I will keep moving forward! Cause I'm a man! A manly man! _Cries pitifully_ Adorable album of an unlikely friendship between an owl and a dog or surprisingly disgusting throat cam of people kissing. _Clicks link_ WHAT?! What is this?! How is this?! How can you kiss like that when there's a camera in your throat?! How did it even get there?! At least there's no tongue, because again how can you have a camera in your mouth and be able to kiss without swallowing it?! This is the reason you close your eyes when you do this! You both need to brush your teeth, seriously! If there was a way to smell through the screen; I would sincerely hope they ate breath mints before this.

Butthole vs wax or butthole vs laser?! Neither of these options sound pleasant! Why is this a 50/50?! They both sound equally bad! _Clicks link_ Ah man, it's the laser one! It's a medical type of video. I have to sit through this! Fisura Anal?! _Sees actual video_ Oh gawd! It's a butthole! Ugh! That's so gross! What is that guy doing?! _Cringes in disgust_ Oh for the love, just stop! Stooooooooop! How long do I have to keep watching?! They haven't even gotten to the laser! It's just focusing on the butthole! _Uses his hands to shield certain parts_ Why do I even have to do a commentary on this?! It's just butthole! All they're doing is prepping the butthole! To think that someone would want to specialize in this part of the medical field! Oh, so now you give out the pain killers. You did all this before the pain killer, that's good. That's real good. Ah! Ah! AH! AH! The laser! How is that?! Oh gawd! No! Ewewewewewew! I think I'm gonna be sick! I'm out! I'm out! _Pulls up kitten slide show_ Oh dear gawd! Why?! Why did I click this one?! If this is any indication of what is to come I am dead! Just put me in the ground so I don't have to subject myself to this torture! Kim! Why would you do this to me?! I am a gentle soul!

*sighs* Man slowly dying on the street while another man beats and impales him with a pole. _Drags hands over his face_ Or funniest arrest ever. _Clicks link_ Oh, it's the arrest. Oh thank goodness. _Just watches in silence and then clicks off_ I am curious as to why he was being arrested. Although, yelling about his penis being out might be a pretty clear indication. The poor man didn't sound like he was completely all there. That was a welcomed relief I gotta say. Man gets into horrific motorcycle accident or man flips onto car on highway. Oh man. _Clicks link sees accident and then guy flips onto car and Adrien looks shocked_ WHAT?! WHAT?! How?! That was both awesome and terrible at the same time! Dude! You got incredibly lucky! No one could pull that off if they tried! Wow! Holy schnikes!

Little foot injury or ten pit bull puppies in a bathtub. Oh please let me get the puppies! I need the puppies! _Clicks link. Sees the foot injury. Inhales and then screams_ Ugh! That is not what I call a little foot injury! Oh my gawd! _Cringes in disgust and then clicks off_ It's weird but I couldn't look away! Why did I keep looking at it?! Ugh! _Calms down_ Okay, I need to move on. Girl eaten alive by toy or girl eaten alive by lions. _Clicks link and braces for the worst. Sees girl playing with rainbow tunnel._ Awwwww, that's cute! And I love the hand drawn eyes on the tunnel. It's like he feels bad for "eating" the little girl at the end. Thank you girl-eating toy for the respite.

Man removes large tonsil stones, gross. Or puppy removes large bone. _Clicks video_ It's tonsil stones. _Sees video_ ACK! AH! What the heck am I seeing?! That is so gross! Is my mouth actually capable of producing such things?! Eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww! Eeeewwww! Ugh, I think I might actually puke for real this time! Alright! I'm done! _Clicks off pulls up eye bleach._ I don't think I'm going to be able to eat after this. Moving on! Colorblind child seeing color for the first time or playing with tendons. _Clicks link and then recoils in fear, horror and disgust._ Hoo! Ugh! Ew! Oh gawd! Is that person even alive?! It's a medical examination table and they're just pulling tendons out of his arm! Aaaaaaaaaaahahahaha!

Hips don't lie or fingertips sliced off. Yeah, these two seem really related. _Clicks link, sees woman shaking her hips_ Oh, I never thought I'd be glad seeing a woman moving her hips like that. Yep, those hips don't lie alright. Next one is, hyena loves belly rubs or lion bites off the...penis...of a buffalo. _Cringes and clicks the link_ Oh no! Nooooooo! _Covers eyes_ I get laws of nature but ah, man! _Scoots chair away and screams and now comes back_ Okay, I think I'm done. No mooooore! Give me the eye bleach please! _Pulls up kitten slideshow_ That went well! My gawd that was an experience. I skipped over some really bad ones because I don't think I am ready for them. Heed my advice and do NOT do this if you want to preserve whatever amount of innocence you have left in this world! Hold on to it for as long as you can! Kim! You gotta do this now because if I can do it then you better, too! So I am signing off here and try to forget what I have seen. Good bye everyone. _Gives a small wave._

 **Wanted to give this a shot and test out this format cause I've got two more that I may do at some point. We'll see. Hope you guys enjoyed this, I used Markiplier's video of the challenge as the base for this and went from there. You can find the video here:** **/dQV8SNJc15o**

 **Anywho, see you guys later!**


	27. Dear Valentine

**Happy Valentine's Day!** **Consider this an AU with no Miraculous and Marinette and Adrien knew each other since they were kids. Enjoy the fluff!**

Marinette's elementary class was excited to find out how close Valentine's Day was. Their teacher always brought cupcakes for everyone and they got to exchange cards with each other. Most of them were store bought but the thought behind them was there. With Disney themed, SpongeBob, animals or sports, they reflected the person who was sending them. But for Marinette, they weren't special enough. She made personalized, hand-made Valentine's. For Nino, it was always music or turtle themed and sometimes both. Her best friend Alya liked superheroes and foxes. Nathanael's was more artsy looking, Rose had lots of pink and frilly things, Juleka was black and purple and simple. Max liked video games and Kim and Alix were sports junkies. Ivan had hard rock music with guitars, drums and skull and cross bones. Mylene was all about rainbows and sunshine. Sabrina liked butterflies and flowers and Chloe had diamonds and pretty dresses and tiaras. But for Adrien, his was black cats chasing ladybugs. He had a thing for black cats and Marinette liked ladybugs and she really liked the blonde haired, green eyed boy. She would spend days making them for her friends and her crush and the smiles on their faces when they got theirs made her hard work worth it. She had given everyone their cards except for Adrien, he always got his last. He never understood why. Did she not like him enough to give it to him sooner? And she seemed to act so shy with him and not with Nino, Nathanael or the other boys in their class. Adrien saw her approach his seat, looking pretty in her red and pink heart dress. He smiled at her and he had his card ready.  
"Hi Mari! Happy Valentine's Day," Adrien beamed happily giving her his card.  
Marinette shyly took it.  
"Hi Adrien. Happy Valentine's Day," she said quietly giving him her card.  
Before Adrien would say anything else, she walked away quickly. His shoulders fell slightly but perked up a bit when a cupcake was placed in front of him. After thanking his teacher, he looked at his card. It was a ladybug on the front, drawn pretty well for an elementary school girl. He opened it and saw a black cat looking up at a flying ladybug. She wrote a message on the other side and it always started with the words, "Dear Valentine." Adrien always thought she was just being nice and friendly with that greeting but for some reason, he blushed every time he read it.

Many years had passed and the class grew older. Now in middle school, Valentine's Day was once again upon them. While they don't get cupcakes in class anymore, they still gave each other cards and they always looked forward to Marinette's personal ones. Marinette's drawing talent grew over the years so her cards became extra special given how artistic and detailed they were. Marinette kept the same themes she did for her friends but updated them accordingly. Nino's still had a musical flare but it reflected his desires to be a DJ. Alya still liked heroes and foxes so Marinette drew her as a fox themed superhero. Adrien still got black cats and ladybugs but she also added elements from his piano, fencing and Chinese lessons his father forced him to do. There was a dance happening the weekend before the holiday and everyone was snatching up dates left and right. Alya and Nino were going together and Marinette wished Adrien would ask her but Chloé got to him first. Adrien was too polite to say no, even though she knew he wanted to. Nathanael asked her instead and not wanting to stay home alone she agreed. She made her dress as well as Alya's and the two girls were getting ready.  
"So, when do you plan to tell Adrien about your crush on him," she asked with a smug grin.  
Marinette flinched and acted flustered.  
"I don't know. I was kind of hoping he'd figure it out for himself," she answered sheepishly.  
"Mari, the boy is too dense. You gotta be direct with him."  
"You know how nervous I get trying to talk to him," Marinette whined.  
"Then at least try to get one dance with him. I'll get Nino to help me get him away from Chloé and then you swoop in and bam," grinned Alya.  
"Bam? What happens after the bam?"  
"The boy becomes so smitten he asks you to be his girlfriend!"  
While Marinette wasn't so sure about that, she remained hopeful. At the dance, Alya wasted no time in separating Chloé from Adrien and just in time for a slow song. Marinette fiddled with her pink cocktail dress and saw that Adrien was standing by the punch bowl. Adrien just happened to look up and see her. He had planned on asking her but Chloé got in his way and he was too afraid of what would happened if he said no. But, she was alone and so was he finally. Adrien approached her cautiously.  
"Hi, Marinette."  
"Oh, h-hi A-Adrien," she stammered out and blushed.  
"Would you like to dance," he asked nervously and holding out his hand.  
"Y-yes, I'd love to," she smiled sweetly.  
They made their way to the dance floor. Adrien held her hand and placed his other on her waist. Despite feeling shy, Marientte kept her blue eyes locked on his green ones. Something about them struck Adrien. He never realized how blue they were and if it was possible to get lost in them, he was perfectly okay with it. She gave him a sweet smile and that cause his heart to skip. The song ended too soon and Marientte noticed Chloé was heading their way. She turned back to Adrien once more and pulled something out of a hidden pocket in her dress. Adrien saw the black envelope and green paw print and knew that this was his special, hand made Valentine card.  
"I wanted you to get this first before the actual day. You can wait to read it until then, I just wanted to be sure you had it."  
Marinette walked away before he got a word in. He looked down at his card and his heart exploded at the thought that she had just given him his card first. Before anyone else got theirs. After the dance, he went home and opened the card immediately. This time she drew him as a black cat themed hero. His blonde hair was more wild and black cat ears were erect on his head. A black mask covered part of his face and his green eyes resembled cat eyes. A black cat suit covered his body that was standing in a heroic pose with his gloved hands ready and claws out. She drew him with a cocky smirk, as if he was confident that he was going to win. He was flattered that she drew him like that and made it a point to ask her if she could draw him like that every year. He looked over at the message and it was addressed to him the same way every time.  
"Dear Valentine."

More years went by and everyone was in university. Nino was studying music and business. Alya was journalism and web design. Adrien in physics and Marinette in fashion and design. The four of them still hung out together and Nino and Alya were dating which lead to Adrien and Marinette as the third and fourth wheels. Marinette still had a crush on the model but she never told him and Adrien kept his growing feelings a secret as well. He just thought she saw him as a friend and he was fine with it, at least that's what he kept telling himself whenever he saw other guys try to flirt with her and when she went on dates with other guys. Thankfully for Adrien, they never went on more than two dates and she would say that they just didn't click. Both Alya and Nino knew it was because they weren't Adrien. Valentine's Day was approaching and Marinette was preparing her special hand made cards for them. She only made them for the three of them this time around and they cherished them. Alya kept her's in a special scrap book since they were little. Nino kept a few of them and Adrien also kept all of his. He especially liked the ones she made with him as a superhero, whom she named Chat Noir. He even had her commissioned to make it a Halloween costume one year. She even made herself a costume, calling herself Ladybug. The flirting and banter between them was making their friends want to force the two of them to confess how they felt about each other. It was a few days before Valentine's Day and Nino was over at Adrien's place when he saw a small box on the blonde's desk. After opening it, he saw Adrien's Valentine cards from Marinette since they were kids and up till now. Nino opened one and saw how she addressed it. Then, Nino realized something that he was sure his best friend didn't.  
"Yo, dude. I found one of the cards Marinette gave you for Valentine's Day. I also noticed how she addressed them. 'Dear Valentine'."  
"Okay, what are you getting at?"  
"Do you understand the significance of such an address?" Adrien shook his head no. "When Mari started this, she said that her friends would be addressed by name. But for the people she truly loved, they would be addressed as Valentine."  
Adrien's eyes went wide.  
"How does she address yours," Nino asked.  
Adrien knew immediately what he was getting at. He couldn't believe all this time; Marinette has been in love with him. And he didn't even know it.  
"I'm an idiot," Adrien cried. "Nino, what do I do?"  
"Don't worry my friend. Nino the Love Doctor is in."

It was Valentine's Day and Marinette was in her room working on an assignment. Most of her classes had canceled so she was fairly free for most of the day. Alya and Nino were making a day of it and she didn't want to bother them. Her thoughts went over to Adrien and wondered what he was up to today. Probably getting ready to romance a model he met at a shoot. She hadn't given him his card for this year because she hasn't seen him for a while. She gave Alya and Nino theirs but they told her to wait to give Adrien's on the 14th. And today was the 14th and she hadn't heard from him.  
"I should just text him and find out where he is."  
Just as she grabbed her phone, there was a knock on her door. Her mother popped her head in.  
"Marinette, you have a visitor," she smiled.  
Marinette came down stairs to find someone she didn't expect. There was Adrien in a nice black suit and a green tie. His hair styled perfectly and shiny black shoes and in his hands was something that really shocked her; a large bouquet of pink, her favorite color, roses.  
"Adrien? What's all this about?"  
"Dear Valentine," he said sweetly.  
"What," she whispered out.  
"My dear Valentine. I've been a fool for far too long. Please forgive me for not acting sooner. For not realizing what your Valentine messages really meant. So, I have a message for you. Your hair is dark as night, your pretty blue bell eyes. I don't have to wonder who you are beneath that strong disguise. Everyday we saw each other and I hoped you would be mine. Together our love could be so true. Please will you be my Valentine?"  
Marinette had taken the roses from him and tried really hard not to cry at his sweet words. So, she went to put down the roses and pulled out the card she was going to give Adrien this year.  
"Your hair shines like the sun, your eyes are gorgeous green. I look at you and wonder your inner most thoughts and dreams. Yes your Valentine I will be. Our love will be so true. Together for eternity my heart always belonged to you."  
Adrien smiled and went in for a kiss. It was everything Marinette hoped for but sadly, had to end for a breath of air.  
"So my Princess, care to join me for dinner," he said with a grin.  
"I'm not properly dressed," Marinette teased back.  
"Would you like me to help," he asked in a husky tone.  
"Not this time. I'll be ready in a few minutes."  
Marinette pecked his lips and raced back upstairs to get ready. Adrien took the card and looked at it. It was a drawing of him as Chat Noir and her as Ladybug looking like they were ready to kiss. He looked over at the message and as usual, addressed to him with "Dear Valentine". Seemed she wanted to use this as the moment she made her feelings more clearer. He was glad he found out first. Marinette cleared her throat and when Adrien looked up, he gasped. She wore a simple red dress with a sweetheart neckline, capped sleeves and pencil skirt. Black heels adorned her feet and her hair was done in a bun. Bright red lips stood out on her soft creamy white skin and it made Adrien want to kiss it off.  
"Ready to go," she asked.  
"Absolutely my Lady," he smiled offering his arm.


	28. Keep Moving

Ellen Dubois tries her best but some days it just isn't enough. She smiles for the students and to others but when she's alone and it's quiet, the smiles fade and the tears fall. It will get better, she tells herself. It has to get better. She hopes and prays everyday for it to be better. The hurt and heartbreak becomes too much and not being able to properly fight it. She's able to pick herself up and move forward because staying still and not doing anything makes it worse. But those times when it seems like all you want to do is lay down and cry; lay down and not move for just a bit. To release the pain that gets built up till it has to be released before it overwhelms you. But, she's currently at school; students are counting on her. She can't crack here. Ellen needs to wait till she's preferably at home. She doesn't want them to know, they don't need to know about her issues. She needs to be the one to guide them on their journeys and help them face their problems. Even if she has to face her's alone. The last class of the day and she's barely keeping it together. Ellen would still smile but it was a strained, half-hearted smile. She bid her students farewell and watched them leave to go about their lives while she contemplated what to do about her's. She looked out into the hallway and saw that it was fairly empty now. To be on the safe side, Ellen shut the door, then slid to the floor and wept.

Meanwhile, Marinette and her friends stayed a bit behind in the locker room.

"Did Miss Ellen seem a bit sad today," she wondered aloud.

"I noticed," said Alya.

"She looked pretty bummed out," agreed Nino.

"I know a fake smile when I see one," stated Adrien.

"I feel like we should do something," said Marinette.

"Like what? I seriously doubt she'll want to tell us what's going on," said Alya.

"I know, but I really like Miss Ellen and I know the rest of us do and I think we need to let her know that," said a determined Marinette.

"What would you suggest we do," asked Adrien.

"Let's head to my place and brainstorm and get the rest of the class involved.

The four friends hurried to the bakery near the school. Back with Ellen Dubois, her weeping had subsided but the tears still flowed. She knew she'd stayed too long and would need to get home. She stood up and gathered her things and began her trek home. She did happen to see the black butterfly approaching her. She knew what this meant; Hawk Moth was trying to reach out to her but she was too aware of what he would offer her. She allowed the butterfly to settle and at least hear what he had to say.

"Are you tired of this pain and heartache, my dear? I can grant you the ability to get back at those who have caused it and help you feel better."

"No, I don't want it. Please leave me be."

"You refuse my gift?"

"What you offer is no gift. Now take your black bug and leave me alone."

The butterfly did so and Ellen could no longer hear him. She made it back home in one piece and prayed that tomorrow would be a better day.

The next morning as Ellen Dubois made her way to her first class, she was greeted by something she'd never expected. A simple vase of hydrangeas in purples, pinks, blues and white and green. It sat next to a small chocolate strawberry cake and a card. Miss Ellen looked to the students who all smiled at her. She picked up the card and saw they all signed it with their name and simple message of encouragement. Ellen tried her best to keep from crying but she managed to speak.

"Thank you all," she said in a cracked voice.

Marinette jumped up and gave her a hug. Alya, Rose and Mylene followed suit. Soon everyone else got up and surrounded the teacher in a group hug. It lifted her spirits up, knowing she had these lovely children to support her.

 **Just been going through some stuff and needed a way to get it off my chest. I normally don't like airing stuff like this out because most people would see this as trying to get attention but it doesn't matter at this point.**

 **At least I left you with a happy ending. I know there's one for me; it's kind of hard to see it for me right now.**


	29. Some Like it Hot

Another day at school, which wasn't all that bad for Adrien. It was a nice break from his life as a model and walking advertisement for his dad's company. He and Nino were eating lunch in the courtyard when an all too familiar shouting match took place.  
"Of course I can handle spice! I'm Korean! I eat spicy kimchi for breakfast," yelled Kim.  
"I've eaten that stuff, and it's not spicy. Now my mom's spicy chicken curry, that's where the heats at," said Alix.  
"If you really want spice, try eating a habanero pepper," stated Max. "My uncle brought some and made a sauce with them and my tongue and mouth was burning."  
"Well, I heard that the Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper in the world," interjected Adrien.  
Everyone turned to Adrien. Kim then began to smirk.  
"Say Adrien, do you like spice?"  
"As much as the next person."  
"I propose a pepper eating contest. Me, Alix, Max and you, Adrien."  
"Dude, I would advise against it," whispered Nino.  
"Sure, I'm in," smiled Adrien.  
He'd never been part of a challenge like this so why not. Adrien was sure it wasn't going to be bad; he was wrong. It was going to be very, very bad. The following day Kim, Alix, Max and Adrien sat around a table with the rest of the class and other students gathered around. Alya was preceding over things.  
"Alright, the rules are simple. You each eat one whole pepper and the winner is the one who doesn't reach for relief by the end of lunch."  
Alya indicated to a cooler with pints of vanilla ice cream as shown by Rose. Alya placed a container with the peppers inside in the middle of the table.  
"How did you get these peppers," asked Max.  
"My mom's a chef. She can get all kinds of stuff. Alright, put on a glove and everyone grab a pepper." They did. "Eat!"  
All four of them bit into the pepper and chewed it. Immediately, they began to gag. Tears began to form in their eyes.  
"Ugh, it's hot," cried Kim.  
*Hic* "Oh man." *Hic* "I feel my stomach convulsing," whimpered Max.  
"Ah, ugh! It's hurts to breathe and not breathe," whined Alix.  
Adrien just kept panting and his tongue was out and it looked like he was sweating. Marinette was feeling bad for her friends; watching them suffer through the pain and heat they seemed to be feeling. How could a pepper do this? She saw one that wasn't eaten and was about to take one when Alya grabbed her wrist.  
"You seriously want to go through what they're going through?"  
Alya indicated towards their friends. Kim was lying face down on the table pounding his fist. Alix turned her gaze to the sky and moaned in pain. Max was wiping his forehead and panting heavily while hiccuping. Adrien was taking off his white over shirt and started to fan his face with his hands. Marinette shook her head no and Alya let go.  
"How *pant* much *pant* time *pant* has passed," asked Alix.  
"Just five minutes guys," said Nino.  
"What?! Only five," screeched Kim.  
"It *hic* feels like *hic* been longer," said Max.  
"Does anyone want the ice cream," asked Rose.  
The four participants looked at each other, silently daring one another to take the frozen treat. Five more minutes go by and most of the crowd has dissipated. All four victims had tears in their eyes and kept gagging or coughing. Adrien darted his gaze toward the cooler. He was willing to give into relief but his pride told him no. Then he got an idea.  
"Rules state that those who ask for ice cream lose right?" They nodded. "So, if we all go for relief, it's a draw and no one really has to lose."  
The other three looked at each other and nodded and the four of them dove for the cooler. Rose held out spoons, which they grabbed and they couldn't get the pints open quick enough. The moment they scooped some and ate it, the relief was immediate.  
"Oh my gawd, yes," cried Alix.  
"Sweet relief," sighed Adrien.  
"I think this is going to be my new favorite flavor," said Kim.  
"It's so good," agreed Max.  
The rest of the class laughed at the spectacle. Soon it was time to head back to class and unfortunately for the pepper eaters, they were still feeling the effects of the dare and felt miserable. Adrien practically had to beg Marinette to let him come over for some comfort. She relented and they ended up on her chaise with his head on her chest, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand holding a glass of milk with a long straw.  
"Does the milk help," she asked stroking his head.  
"Yeah, it's helping. But it still burns," he whined.  
"Well, I hoped you learned your lesson."  
"Yeah, I'm not a fan of spice. I much prefer sweet things."  
"Oh, then how about I go get some cookies for us?"  
"I got something better," smirked Adrien.  
"Like what," she asked curiously.  
Adrien set the glass down and readjusted himself to face her. Mischievous green eyes focused on surprised blue ones. Adrien leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Marinette responded and was surprised by how she could taste a hint of spice from his mouth. Even more surprising was that she liked it. They parted for air; she noticed how smug he looked.  
"Yep, definitely sweet," he whispered.  
"Well, I happen to like spicy now," she whispered back.  
She dove back in for more.

 **What? You had something else in mind? So, I'm sure you've seen all those eating hot pepper challenges before so here's one in the Miraculous universe**


	30. Say Yes to the Dress

**Have you guys seen the show "Say Yes to the Dress?" It was always fun seeing the types of different gowns and dresses and I thought it would be fun to see Marinette in her own version of it. Hope you enjoy!**

Marrying Adrien Agreste had always been a dream for Marinette and now she had the ring to prove it. Planning said wedding was more of a nightmare. Adrien insisted on the biggest grandest wedding, nothing but the best for his Princess. Marinette would have been happy with just a small affair with friends and family and in a dress designed and made by herself. But neither Adrien nor Gabriel would hear of it. With Alya and Marinette's mother, Sabine's help, Gabriel got his hands on Marinette's sketch book and found several designs for wedding dresses and got his team to work. Marinette was at her studio finishing a project when Alya and the rest of Marinette's female classmates from lycée stormed her room.  
"Uh, what's going on," she asked.  
"Drop what you're doing and let's go," said Alya and she grabbed her friend.  
"But I..."  
"No time for that Mari, we gotta move," said Chloé as she pushed from behind.  
"Where are we going?"  
"You'll have to wait and see," smiled Rose.  
"Its awesome, don't worry," said Juleka.  
Marinette was dragged back to the Agreste mansion and while she was shoved into Gabriel Agreste's office, Alya spoke with Nino.  
"Where's Golden Boy," she asked.  
"He's in his room. The others are in there trying to get him."  
"Keep Adrien busy and under no circumstances is he allowed in that office."  
"Got it. But you know how curious he gets. Especially when Mari's involved."  
"That's why we got the rest of the guys to hold him back."  
Soon the rest of their male classmates walked into the foyer with Adrien in Ivan's grasp. Nino and Alya were a bit confused.  
"He wouldn't stop squirming," said Kim.  
"Let me go," Adrien bellowed. "I know she's here! I want to be part of it!"  
"Sorry. Tradition dictates that a groom is not allowed to see what the bride will wear for the wedding until the actual date," stated Max.  
"We'll take him to mine and Theo's place," said Nathanael. "Hopefully he won't be too tempted to sneak away."  
"If I can get past Gorilla, I can get past Ivan," snarled Adrien.  
"Good luck with that," grinned Ivan.  
"Alright, you all get out of here. See you in a few hours," waved Alya.  
Once the guys were gone, Alya and Nathalie entered the office. Gabriel stood in front of the group with one of his other employees next to him. A short brown haired woman in a black dress. Alya sat next to Marinette on a plush couch with the rest of the girls and Marinette's mother and Nathalie.  
"Good morning everyone, let's say we skip the formalities and get right to the point," said Gabriel. "Marinette, we are here to find your prefect wedding dress and we are using your own designs as well as a few of my own. With the help of your mother and maid of honor, my team has taken your designs and created your own wedding dress line. And the best way to launch said line would be you wearing one at your wedding to my son."  
Marinette was shocked; she couldn't believe her mother and best friend would do that but to have her own boss and future father-in-law in on it as well. It was too much.  
"Colette, would you please assist the bride to be," gestured Gabriel to the woman next to him.  
"Right this way Marinette," Colette smiled.  
The two women made their way to a small area in the office with a makeshift dressing room. Three dresses were already hung up waiting to be tried on.  
"This one has to be my favorite," said Colette as she helped Marinette put on the dress.

Meanwhile, Adrien was being dragged against his will to Nathanael and Theo's studio apartment. Just what were they supposed to do? Just stare at unfinished works of art? Or worse, each other? He had to get out of here and if need be, use Chat Noir. Did Ivan really think he could hold Adrien down? He may be about as big as Gorilla but Adrien had made ditching the man an art form. Sneaking past his classmate would be a cinch.  
"So, what now," asked Kim.  
"Thanks to our last commission, Theo and I managed to purchase an Xbox One. Who's up for some Battlefront?"  
While everyone took turns playing, Adrien was scheming. He wanted to know what his fiancé and her bridesmaids were up to and why was his father involved. If he could, he would transform into Chat Noir and escape. He could do it from the bathroom; they'd figure it out but he'd already be long gone and have a head start. So, he causally got up and announced he was going to the toilet. Nino narrowed his eyes and signaled to Ivan to watch him. Adrien found the bathroom and waited a bit before he opened his jacket.  
"You ready, Plagg," he whispered.  
"Can't you just let me sleep," Plagg whined.  
"We're just gonna go see Mari. You get to see Tikki."  
That seemed to perk the cat kwami up. There was only one thing other than Camembert to get Plagg moving and it was the ladybug kwami. So, with a zip into the air and a nod, Adrien was about to say the words when he heard a loud banging on the door. This caused Adrien to jump and Plagg to hide back in the jacket.  
"Occupied," Adrien yelled. The door opened and Ivan stood there was a serious expression. "What," said Adrien. "I'm just finishing up."  
Ivan grabbed Adrien by the arms and Adrien may or not have yowled like a cat at the action. Ivan carried Adrien back to the living room where a game of Left 4 Dead was underway.  
"Enjoyed your bathroom break," asked a smug Nino.  
Adrien glared at his best friend and crossed his arms huffing in anger. The other guys snickered at the model's childish behavior and even Plagg was trying not to laugh himself. Adrien swore he would sneak away and see what his Lady was up to.

Colette had just finished helping Marinette into a slim fitted gown that flared at the bottom. The fabric gathered at the hip and had a small bit of excess hanging down. The top was a strapless sweetheart neckline.  
"This looks really chic and elegant," commented Colette.  
"Yes, the satin material looks great in this style," added Marinette.  
"Then let's show them."  
Marinette walked out with Colette behind her. Her friends, mother and future father-in-law stopped their chatting to see the bride to be step up onto a platform and three way mirrors. Marinette faced the group to get some feed back.  
"What do you all think," Marinette asked.  
The group just stared, giving it a once over.  
"It's nice, but it's not you," piped up Alya.  
"It looks plain," added Chloé.  
"There's no wow factor," stated Sabine.  
"Perhaps we add this embellished belt," said Colette tying an embroidered lace and beaded belt.  
"It helps, but it's not enough," said Gabriel.  
So Marinette and Colette went back to the dressing room. The next was a strapless ball gown with tule skirt and beading that sparkled. The bodice was lace and a few crystal accents here and there to give it bling. Marinette eyed the dress.  
"It's look beautiful."  
"Like a Princess," said Colette.  
"Adrien likes to call me that."  
"How fitting."  
The two made their way back out to show the group. Rose and Mylene's eyes lit up.  
"So pretty," gushed Mylene.  
"A true princess gown," squealed Rose.  
"It looks great," said Sabrina.  
"No," stated Alya.  
"Why," asked Alix.  
"It's a beautiful dress but it's too much," reasoned Alya. "You're more for subtlety."  
"She has a point," agreed Sabine.  
Back to the dressing room Marinette and Colette went. The other two dresses were taken away and replaced with two new ones and the original third.  
"Marinette, do you see something you want to try," asked Colette.  
"Can I have a few minutes to myself? I'm starting to get overwhelmed."  
"Of course. Call me when you are ready."  
Once Colette left, Marinette let out a sigh and slumped onto a chair. Tikki took this as the moment to zip about.  
"Are you okay, Marinette?"  
"I will be, Tikki. I just, wanted a minute to breathe."  
"Weddings can be an emotional time. I've had many Ladybugs get married so I can understand how you feel."  
"Part of me wants to see Adrien. He's good at calming me down but, I don't want him to see these dresses."  
"He can still see them, just don't tell him which one it is. I can signal him if you want?"  
"Would you please?"  
"Of course."

Back at the studio apartment, Max had brought out the Nintendo Switch and got a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tournament going. Adrien was racing with Theo, Max and Kim when he felt a vibration in his jacket. The jolt made him miss a turn on Rainbow Road and fall off the edge causing Max to take the win.  
"Yes! I win," Max yelled.  
"Yeah, yeah," complained Adrien as he got up.  
"Where are you going," asked a suspicious Nino.  
"Just gonna check my phone, geez man!"  
Adrien walked to a corner of the room and pulled his phone out. The he discretely opened his jacket to address Plagg.  
"What's going on," Adrien whispered.  
"Tikki's buzzing me," answered Plagg. "Marinette wants to see you."  
"Easier said than done but if my Lady needs me, I will escape."  
Adrien knew his best chance was the bathroom window and this time it was going to work. He made his way but he knew Ivan would be close behind.  
"Don't take too long," Ivan said.  
Adrien just nodded and closed the door. He quietly transformed and leapt out the window. Being Chat Noir, he always knew how to find his Ladybug so he made his way to the part of the mansion where his father's office was and found a window with a red ribbon sticking out of it. A silent signal for him to find her. Chat Noir tapped on the window and was quickly ushered in by Marinette. Chat blushed when he saw she was only wearing a silk white robe. His cheeks darkened when he heard his Lady giggle at him.  
"You can look kitty," she said coyly.  
Before Chat could move toward her, Plagg dropped the transformation.  
"Plagg," admonished Adrien.  
"What? You wanted your Princess and I wanted my bug. No way was I going to miss out while you're Chat."  
Plagg dove for Tikki while Marinette stepped closer to Adrien. The two embraced and Marinette began to feel more relaxed.  
"Everything alright, Princess," Adrien whispered.  
"It is now," Marinette whispered back.  
"So what has my Lady been up to?"  
"Trying on wedding dresses."  
"Oh, can I see? Which one is it," asked an excited Adrien.  
"Kitty, it's a surprise. You have to wait for the wedding day."  
Adrien pouted but he looked over at the three dresses hanging up. He carefully examined them before he pointed to the third one.  
"I like this one. It fits you the best."  
Marinette eyed his choice.  
"I'll take that into consideration," she smiled as she kissed him.  
Meanwhile, Alya got a text from Nino saying that Adrien disappeared and could be making his way to Marinette. Alya quickly got up and went to the dressing room and began to knock.  
"Mari! Adrien's gone awol!"  
The two jerked their heads to the door in surprise.  
"Guess I better get going," sighed Adrien. "You want to get some dinner later?"  
"Actually," she began and then whispered in his ear.  
Adrien began to grin and kissed her cheek.  
"I like that plan much better." He stepped back and winked at her and then called his transformation. "See you later," he saluted and jumped out the window.  
Alya had come in just a second later.  
"Girl, you okay?"  
"Yeah, just needed some fresh air."

Adrien had just managed to jump back into the bathroom as the transformation dropped. He went into the living room and noticed no one was there.  
"Must have left to come find me," he said to himself.  
Unbeknownst to him, someone else came out of the kitchen.  
"Whoa! Where did you come from," yelled Theo. "Everyone's out looking for you!"  
"Well, I'm back. Go ahead and tell the others."  
Once the rest of the guys came back, Nino was upset.  
"Dude! Where the heck were you?!"  
"I needed fresh air. Relax, it's all cool."  
Nino eyed him wearily but took his word for it. Meanwhile, Marinette had decided to try on the dress Adrien seemed to like and she was surprised by what she saw. Colette was amazed as well.  
"My goodness dear, this looks stunning!"  
"Let's show everyone else," beamed Marinette.  
Colette followed behind Marinette as they approached the platform. Everyone was saying oohs and awes while Marinette stared at herself in the mirror.  
"Girl, you look amazing," cried Alya.  
"Absolute perfection," cooed Chloé.  
"It's gorgeous," sighed Sabine.  
"Truly a work of art," commented Gabriel.  
"Did you design this Mr. Agreste," asked Nathalie.  
"No, I didn't."  
"Who did," asked Juleka.  
"I did," answered Marinette.  
Marinette's dress had a fitted strapless sweetheart neckline with a lace overlay that covered the upper portion of her body, stopping at the collar bone and long sleeves. The back was exposed and the lace overlay continued all the way down the dress and had a long train.  
"Colette, let's see it with the right embellishments," stated Gabriel.  
"Wait, I actually have something here," said Sabine as she stood up.  
She made her way to her daughter holding out a white box.  
"What's this maman?"  
"This is something that's been with my family for years. I wore it on my wedding day, your grandmother wore it, and so on. And today, I'm giving it to you to wear on your day."  
Through Sabine's tears, she opened the box to reveal a silver and white lotus blossom hair pin. Marinette started to tear up as well while her mother fixed her hair up in a bun with the hair pin in place. After taking a look in the mirror once more, all the women in the room gasped in delight while Gabriel just smiled.  
"Well, Marinette. Is this your dress," he asked.  
"Yes," she cried out in happiness.  
All the ladies cheered and hugged Marinette. Marinette couldn't wait to show Adrien she picked the dress he picked as well.


	31. Hamster Surprise

**Hi**

 **Sorry I took so long. I finally finished this one and it is a bit shorter than I expected it to be but I think I got the point across. Consider it a sequel to Kitty Surprise and was loosely based on a video I've seen where a little girl gives her big brother a hamster for his birthday and it was the sweetest thing ever.**

 **Anyway, I am trying to write again so hopefully I will have more for you all soon.**

 **Okay bye.**

Hugo was like his mother, Marinette Agreste, in many regards and her love for hamsters carried on through him. So one of the things he wanted for his 10th birthday was a hamster. His 7 year old sister, Emma, wanted to give him something special and asked her daddy to help her.  
"Daddy, I want to buy Hugo a hamster for his birthday," she said.  
Her dad, Adrien Agreste, looked up from grading papers.  
"You do? How do you plan to pay for it?"  
"I can work. Is there something I can do, Daddy?"  
For the next two weeks before Hugo's birthday, Emma helped with little chores here and there to earn money for her big brother's present. Both Marinette and Adrien were proud of their daughter's work ethic and thoughtfulness. Soon, Emma had saved enough to buy the hamster while her parents bought the cage. The hamster was boy and beige in color, it had its own wheel and some tunnels to scurry around in. Marinette and Emma set up the cage while Adrien kept Hugo busy on the day of his actual birthday. When they returned home, they had a small family celebration together since Hugo was going to get a big party the coming weekend. Once they finished their dinner and special desert from the grandparents, Emma was ready to present the gifts.  
"Hugo, come with me," she cried grabbing his hand.  
Hugo rolled his eyes at his sister's enthusiasm dragging him to his room while Marinette and Adrien followed behind with Adrien taking his phone out to record it.  
"Emm, what's all the fuss about," Hugo asked.  
"Close your eyes okay," she asked.  
He did and she opened his room and led him in. Adrien and Marinette were smiling at the sight.  
"Can I open them now," asked Hugo.  
"Okay, you can now," said Emma.  
Hugo opened his eyes and saw the hamster cage and the hamster running around. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped.  
"Happy Birthday, Hugo," smiled Emma.  
"What do you say, Hugo," said Adrien.  
Hugo grabbed his sister into a hug. A small sob could be heard from him.  
"Hugo, are you crying," asked Emma. "Cause I am."  
"Hugo, what do you tell your sister," asked Marinette.  
"Thank you," he cried with happiness.  
The rest of the day, the two of them watched Rembrandt, or Remy, run in his cage.


	32. Hacked

***Peaks from a corner* hi, sorry for being gone so long but I'm slowly getting back into writing. Plan to update some stories that need to be updated but until then enjoy this one. Thanks again for stopping by and see you later.**

"Bye-bye little butterfly. Initiating 'Miraculous Ladybug'."  
Marinette typed a few commands on the computer screen and lines of code that looked broken became repaired again. The noirette stretched her limbs after sitting in her chair for hours. Her voice chat window popped up with an incoming call.  
"Hello Rena Rouge," answered Marinette.  
"Hey LB, nice work on the Akuma Virus. That makes six tonight."  
"Yeah, Hawkmoth's been very active lately. Hopefully he'll take a break for a while before he launches another attack."  
"Or he could not launch attacks," said Rena Rouge.  
"Like that's going to happen. Hey, let me log off and call you on my cell."  
"Right, later."  
Marinette shut down her machine and headed out of her office. Working for a cyber security company had her going after hackers, solving data breaches, and patching open doors. But the hours were long and not always conducive for socializing unless it's with other workers. Like Marinette, Rena Rouge, or Alya had a similar task of taking on cyber attacks and assisting Marinette, or code name, Ladybug.  
"Are you still in the office," asked Marinette on her cell.  
"I'm almost done, meet you by the elevator," answered Alya.  
As Marinette waited, a text message came through and it was from a familiar contact.  
"Excellent job on taking out those viruses, My Lady," said the message.  
Marinette smiled and responded.  
"Couldn't have done it without your help, Chaton."  
"Oh purr-lease, I only just informed you of the hack. You did all the work."  
"Yes, but without your firewall and your Cataclysm program, the situation would have been worse. You really helped me out a lot tonight."  
"Well, happy to be of service then."  
A GIF image of someone bowing followed the response. And then, the image of a rose being presented followed next with a cartoon cat winking. Marinette rolled her eyes but giggled at the cheesiness of it. She didn't notice Alya walking up.  
"Did Mr. Smooth Operator send a message," she asked as they got on the elevator.  
"Yeah, he's actually pretty cheesy really."  
"But you love it."  
"I don't know what you mean."  
"Oh come on! It's obvious the guy is in love with you and you just shrug it off?"  
"Hey, you know I only have eyes for Adrien!"  
"He's a model, what are the odds of you two getting even remotely together? At least this Chat Noir guy seems legitimate."  
Marinette knew she had a point. She'd been crushing after Adrien since she was fifteen. She used to stalk him, er, happened to be in the same place he would be sometimes to just maybe have him fall in love at the first sight of her. Sadly, that hasn't happened and despite not being able to make it into the fashion scene to get near him the right way, she was creative with computer programs and developed her skills as someone who found a way to create a program that deletes viruses, called Tikki. But then the tougher Akuma Virus appeared and databases and information was being breached, deleted, sold and published. Tikki was powerful enough but not fast enough which was compensated when another antivirus called Plagg was launched to help Tikki slow down the Akuma Virus so Tikki could do its job of deleting the virus and restoring the original data and or code. The creator of Plagg went by the alias Chat Noir and was a freelancer and only wanted to work with Ladybug. Marinette's superiors have been asking her to recruit Chat Noir but he always dodged the question or asked her a question, either about who she really was or if she wanted to go on a date with him. Both were answered with a no. But, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she did say yes.  
"Maybe, but I'm not sure yet," said Marinette.  
The two ladies continued their conversation on office gossip, world gossip and other topics that only seemed to matter to them. Alya went to her apartment with her fiancé and club DJ, Nino while Marinette went to her apartment. She was greeted by her tabby cat named Tikki. No, she did not get a cat because of Chat Noir; sort of. She was getting her dinner together when she heard frantic knocking on her door. At first she thought it was Alya who got into a fight with Nino and wanted to crash at her place till she calmed down and then go home to make up with him. She looked at the peephole on the door to find a tall man wearing a black and green hoodie with cat ears on it, jeans and orange sneakers. The top part of his face was covered by a mask which made his green eyes pop out against the black and she could make out blonde hair under the hood.  
"I know you're in there Ladybug! It's me Chat Noir! Please let me in! It's an emergency!"  
Marinette wasn't sure if it really was Chat Noir; her gut said yes but she had to be certain.  
"What was the first thing you said to me when you first sent me a message," she asked.  
"I believe I told you how purrfectly pawesome you were at executing your Miraculous Ladybug program," he snickered.  
Marinette groaned at the puns. Only he would do that. She steeled herself for a moment, knowing she was about to show herself to Chat Noir. He obviously found out where she lived but doesn't know what she looked like. She hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed. She took a deep breath and opened her door. He looked up and saw the noirette for the first time and he smiled. She looked even more beautiful than he imagined.  
"Good evening, my Lady," Chat said with a bow. But as he stood back up, he grew serious. "I'm sorry but you need to get your laptop."  
"What? Why," she asked as he walked past her.  
"I'll explain later, just hurry and log on."  
Chat Noir sat on her couch and pulled out his lap top and began to type furiously. Marinette sat next to him and opened her lap top.  
"What's going on?"  
"A butterfly followed you home," Chat said.  
That was all he need to say to get her going on her lap top. Marinette quickly pulled up her command screen to see a message.  
"End Tikki or I end you in one hour. Your information will be released to the public."  
A timer appeared and it was counting down.  
"How?! How did they find me?!"  
"I've been tracking a piece of the virus that seemed to have managed to copy part of itself and latch onto to Tikki. I found your IP address and managed to triangulate your location and came straight here."  
The two began to type in silence, each trying to get a ahead of this virus.  
"Why would they go after me," Marinette wondered aloud.  
"You've been a thorn in their side. Based on my Intel, these guys do more than hack and steal information. They sell secrets to some very bad people and thanks to your program, they're losing money and they figure the best way to end Tikki is to end you," answered Chat.  
"But why expose me? What would they do with my identity?"  
"If they knew where you were, they could find you. Do you really want me to spell it out for you if they knew where you live, what you looked like and what they could do to you," said Chat worriedly.  
That made Marinette even more determined to stop the virus before her vital information was leaked out. They each typed frantically in silence. Marinette was starting to get worried. She wondered what he was thinking about.  
"Are...are you, disappointed," she asked hesitantly.  
"What," Chat exclaimed and whipped his head toward her. "Why would I be disappointed?! You're better than I imagined," he beamed. Then he turned back to his computer. "I've isolated the program. Launching Plagg now."  
"Launching Tikki."  
The two of them worked feverishly trying to get ahead of this virus. It wasn't going well.  
"Hawkmoth must have had this thing upgraded because it's re-spawning faster than Plagg can slow it down," cried Chat Noir.  
"Let me call Rena Rouge," said Marinette grabbing her phone.  
"Might not be enough. I'm calling Carapace," stated Chat Noir while grabbing his phone.  
Meanwhile, both Alya and Nino were watching a movie when both their phones went off. They each went to the opposite of the room to answer.  
"Hey girl, what's up?"  
"Get on your laptop right now! There's a butterfly on the loose in my computer," shouted Marinette.  
"Yo dude, how's it hangin'," greeted Nino.  
"I need your help! This butterfly is tougher than I can handle!"  
"On it," both Nino and Alya responded.  
After establishing a voice chat, the hackers got to work.  
"Initiating ," said Carapace.  
"You think that's going to work," asked Rena.  
"It will help protect the data at least," he replied back.  
"What about my Lucky Charm command," asked Ladybug.  
"That might help, but I don't think that will be enough," said Chat Noir.  
"My multiplier can," stated Rena Rouge.  
Rena activated a protocol that copied the Lucky Charm command to delete several rows of the Akuma virus data. Chat Noir used his skills to locate the source of the hack and use Cataclysm to cut it off.  
"I think I found the IP address. Launching sequence now," he stated.  
"Ready with the firewall," said Carapace.  
"Cataclysm initiated," Chat announce after a few keyboard taps. "Signal broken."  
"Firewalls on and scanning for additional malware," added Carapace.  
"Bye-bye little butterfly," stated Ladybug. "Akuma has been deleted. Initiating Miraculous Ladybug."  
"Adding Multiplier," said Rena Rouge.  
"Thanks for your help," sighed Ladybug.  
"No problem and Ladybug, give my dude a chance will ya," Carapace replied and hung up.  
"Yeah, and don't do anything we wouldn't do," added Rena who also hung up.  
Now with one crisis over, Marinette had to deal with another. She shut down her laptop and placed it on her coffee table. She looked over at Chat who was still looking at his computer. She gathered up her courage to address him.  
"Hey, I really appreciate you saving me like this."  
Chat looked up and smiled.  
"No problem, My Lady. I will always have your back. I just need to check one last thing and then I'll get out of your hair."  
Marinette was hesitant about letting him leave. She wanted to properly thank him this time.  
"Is there anything I can do to repay you for this? For everything," she asked nervously.  
Chat stopped what he was doing and set his laptop down. He stood up and slowly approached her with a soft smile on his face. Now that things were relaxed and more calm, Marinette could get a better look at his face. His green eyes reminded her of emeralds, like Adrien's. His face looked familiar as well, and the blond hair too. The only thing really keeping her from seeing it clearly was a black mask and his cat eared hood.  
"Have dinner with me," he whispered softly.  
"As in a date," she asked.  
"If you want it to be."  
Marinette thought about it for a moment. She liked the sound of it really, just needed to clear up one other thing.  
"On one condition. Take off your mask?"  
"You sure," he asked with uncertainty in his voice.  
He used Chat Noir as a persona to help him feel more confident and the freedom to be himself. He only showed his true face to one other person but he was with Rena right now. Chat had been wanting to meet his Lady and show her who he was. He was surprised at first when he discovered his former classmate was her but also very, very happy. He just hoped she would be happy with him.  
"Please," she pleaded. "It's only fair."  
"You have a point. Just, please don't freak out."  
Chat moved his hood off his head letting his blond locks loose. After a quick adjustment, he moved his hands to his mask and slowly removed it. Marinette's eyes grew big as dinner plates. Standing before her was Adrien Agreste; the man she's been in love with since lycée.  
"It's you," she squeaked out. "It's really you?"  
"Uh yeah, it's me," he chuckled out.  
Adrien hoped this wouldn't make things more awkward between them. What happened next was a surprise to him and Marinette if she were honest. Marinette grabbed his hoodie, brought him down to her level and smashed her lips to his. It took Adrien a couple of seconds to respond and when he did, she moaned blissfully. Both were in heaven, but had to release for air. Both were now panting.  
"Do you want to eat here," Marinette asked. "Would really rather to continue this."  
"Yes, please," Adrien begged and dove back in.


End file.
